Kingsbury Mandir anniversary - a chance to enjoy Hindu culture this week

 Guest post by Philip Grant

 

Kingsbury Mandir, at the corner of Kingsbury Road and Townsend Lane. (Image from the internet)

 

The Shree Swaminarayan Mandir in Kingsbury is celebrating its 10^th anniversary this month, and is inviting the local community to join them for a series of events over the next eight days. I know, from personal experience, that the people of this Mandir are very welcoming to anyone, from whatever background, who is interested to experience their culture, and that they are keen to be an integral part of Brent’s wonderfully diverse community.

 

One of the highlights of the week will be a grand procession along Kenton Road and Kingsbury Road next Saturday afternoon, 24 August. The procession will start from St Luke’s Hospice at 3.30pm – chosen because the Mandir has been supporting the hospice charity from the time that its environmentally friendly temple building was being constructed.

 

 

There was a similar colourful procession in 2014, when the Kingsbury Mandir opened, and I can give you a flavour of what you might see with these photos which I took then, as it passed near Kingsbury Library.

 

You may wonder, as I did at first, what a band in kilts, playing bagpipes, has to do with Hindu culture. I learned, from speaking later with a member of the band, that about fifty years ago their spiritual leader (Inspirator) came from India, to visit the relatively new community of this branch of the Swarminarayan faith. While in London, he saw and heard a Scottish military bagpipe band, and felt uplifted by its beautiful music. Wishing to please him, a group of his followers learned to play the bagpipes, and Kingsbury Mandir’s band now performs to an excellent standard. I suggest that you take the chance to hear them!

 

 

The stretch of Kingsbury Road near the Library, with its wide pavement on the less busy side of the shopping centre, would be a good place to watch the procession pass, probably between about 4 and 4,30pm. And if you are early, and have not already seen it, why not pop inside Kingsbury Library to view the small display about the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park in 1924!

Philip Grant.

Brent Council 'sad' at loss of fine, healthy mature oak tree they felled on Barn Hill

Photo: Lasitha Leelasena

Photo: Lasitha Leelaseena

 Residents of Barn Hill were shocked to find that what they saw as a beautiful health oak tree on an open space, between  Brampton Grove and Basing Hill, had been felled by Brent Council.

Apart from the main Barn Hill open space there are remnants of Humphry Repton's landscaping present amongst the 1930s housing on the hill. Its oak trees create a unique green environment, apparent from many vantage points, and contribute to the area's clean air.

 

Survivors amongst the housing

 

Some residents were aghast and asked Brent Council why the tree had been felled - was it disease or something else?

Kelly Eaton, Head of Parks and Green Infrastructure responded to residents:

I am afraid that we had to remove the tree because of an insurance claim related to property subsidence. In these instances we undertake a rigorous process of assessment of damage caused and liaise closely with our insurance team and loss adjusters. We considered every possible option to save the tree before having to make the difficult decision for its removal. I offer my assurance that the Parks Service did not take this decision lightly, especially when a healthy tree needs to be removed. It leaves us all with a great sadness when this has to take place. I am sorry that we did not inform neighbours before this work was undertaken. We cannot replant in the same location but will work with colleagues to identify alternative locations for any tree replanting.

 

Local historian Philip Grant adds:

 

This is a very sad loss, as this was a tree planted as part of Humphry Repton's landscaping of Richard Page's Wembley Park estate lands in 1793. You can read about this at the end of Part 1 of my 2020 local history series about Wembley Park:
https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2020/05/the-wembley-park-story-part-1.html

Although they are now more than 230 years old, you can still follow the lines of oak trees that Repton had planted around the boundary of Richard Page's estate, and as a landscape feature framing the summit of Barn Hill when viewed from the Wembley Park mansion on the northern slope of Wembley Hill.

I have sent Martin a copy of a map from 1920, a few years before developers started to build the Barn Hill estate. This (above) clearly shows many of Repton's lines of trees, with an arrow added to point out the row of trees retained when Basing Hill and Branpton Grove were developed by Wimpey's in the 1930s.

One of those oaks is the casualty of Brent Council's response to an insurance claim. It was not the tree's fault, because it had its roots in that ground more than a century before the houses were built

First Becoming Brent Workshop on Empire - Saturday August 17th

 

 From Brent Council

The trauma and legacy of the British Empire is being explored in a hard-hitting new project to mark the 100th anniversary of the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Stadium.  

 

Becoming Brent is a series of events and workshops, each exploring the impact of the British Empire in Brent, Britain’s colonial past and the harsh realities and ugliness of racism. 

 

Come along, get involved and help to re-imagine and create a decolonised future. 

 

Brent Museum and Archives will be hosting a series of workshops on: 

 

·       Saturday 17 August, 11am-2pm 

·       Friday 23 August, 11am-2pm 

·       Friday 6 September, 11am-2pm 

·       Saturday 7 September, 11am-2pm 

 

 I have asked for venue and booking details to be added when received.

 

Taylor Swift road closures, bus diversion etc August 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th and 20th

 

Security has been tightened for the Wembley Stadium Taylot Swift concerts. Swifties without tickets will not be allowed to gather outside the stadium:

 

Taylor Swift Concert details:

Thursday 15 August
Early Entry doors: 15:30 
General Admission and Hospitality: 16:00 
Show Start: 16:55

Friday 16 August
Early Entry doors: 15:45
General Admission & Hospitality: 16:15
Show Start: 17:10

Saturday 17 August
Early Entry doors: 15:45 
General Admission & Hospitality: 16:15 
Show Start: 17:10

Monday 19 August 
Early Entry doors: 15:30 
General Admission & Hospitality: 16:00 
Show Start: 16:55

Tuesday 20 August
Early Entry doors: 15:30
General Admission & Hospitality: 16:00
Show Start: 16:55

 

ROAD CLOSURES AND BUS DIVERSIONS

 

The usual Event Day parking restrictions will apply. 

 

Unfortunately, as usual TfL has failed to publish timings for bus diversions and suspensions ahead of the event.

Advertising watchdog finds Quintain Living guilty of misleading advertising on three counts regarding its Wembley Park properties

 

The Advertising Standards Authority  (ASA)  today upheld three complaints made about Quintain Living, the private landlord arm of developer Quintain Ltd.

Summary of Council decision:

 

Three issues were investigated, all of which were Upheld.

Ad description

 

A website for property management company Quintain Living, www.quintainliving.com, seen on 12 February. A page titled “7 WAYS YOU’LL SAVE WITH US” stated “SAVE ON AVERAGE 56% ON ENERGY BILLS. According to Amber Energy these energy savings are based on comparing our EPC rating of “B” versus the average rental property rating of “D” in England & Wales of comparable apartment size.

 

Energy bills being defined as heating, lighting and hot water”. The page also stated “FREE SUPERFAST WIFI. Save £477 per year [“Save £477 per year” in bold] according to uSave – the average UK superfast broadband (30mbps or above) is £39.75/mth. Ours is included, set up ready to go and is 250mbps on all buildings except Alto, Montana & Dakota on 60mbps”. It further stated, “FREE WORK FROM HOME AREAS”.

 

Issue

 

The complainant challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated:

1. “SAVE ON AVERAGE 56% ON ENERGY BILLS”;
2. “FREE SUPERFAST WIFI”; and
3. “FREE WORK FROM HOME AREAS”.

 Quintain Living website today still advertising 'Free superfast Wifi' and 'Free work from home areas'

Response

1. Quintain Living Ltd explained that their energy savings claim was based on comparing their Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of “B” compared to the average rental property rating of “D”. Those comparative ratings remained correct and when they originally made the claim, in line with their ongoing policy, their tariff was no more expensive than the best value tariff for a one-year fix from an energy supplier with at least one per cent of the UK market. However, from April 2023 to April 2024, they had been unable to meet that target, because the Energy Price Guarantee, a government-backed subsidy designed to mitigate the sharp increase in energy costs, had not been extended to consumers supplied via commercial landlords. They said they would change the claim to focus on the energy efficiency of the apartments rather than a monetary saving going forward.
   
2. Quintain Living accepted that the use of the word “free” in relation to the WiFi claim was not in line with the Council of Advertising Practice (CAP Code), because the WiFi was included in the package. They said they would change the wording so it stated the WiFi was “included” rather than “free”. They explained that the claim only featured on one webpage.
   
3. Quintain Living said they had free open plan work-from-home areas for residents in all their developments, which were open to residents on a first-come, first-served basis. They further stated that they had additional higher quality work-from-home areas which could be hired for a fee. They said that the claim featured on one isolated webpage.

 

Assessment

 

1. Upheld

 

The ASA considered consumers would understand the claim “SAVE ON AVERAGE 56% ON ENERGY BILLS”, which appeared beside explanatory text, to mean that they would save 56% on their energy costs against the average comparable energy bill by renting through Quintain Living. The ASA acknowledged Quintain Living’s statement that the claim had been inaccurate from April 2023 to April 2024, and we welcomed their willingness to amend it. 

 

However, we had not received any evidence to demonstrate that the claim that consumers could save 56% on average on energy bills was accurate when the ad was seen or previously.

We therefore concluded that it was misleading. On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.7 (Substantiation).

 

2. Upheld

 

The CAP Code stated that marketers must not describe an element of a package as "free" if that element was included in the package price unless consumers were likely to regard it as an additional benefit because it had recently been added to the package without increasing its price.

 

We considered consumers would understand the claim “FREE SUPERFAST WIFI” to mean that the WiFi was genuinely free and therefore not included in the rent payments or other charges. We acknowledged Quintain Living’s explanation that the WiFi was included in the package price and was therefore not technically “free”.

 

Given that, we concluded that the claim “FREE SUPERFAST WIFI” was misleading.
 

On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.25 (Free).

 

3. Upheld

 

We considered consumers would understand the claim “FREE WORK FROM HOME AREAS” to mean that the areas were genuinely free and therefore not included in the rent payments or other charges. We acknowledged Quintain Living’s comment that there were some work-from-home areas which were available to all residents without a hire fee, and some higher quality options which could be hired for a cost. However, we understood that those work-from-home areas which did not require a hire fee were in any case included in the package cost. Given that those work-from-home areas were not therefore genuinely free, we concluded that the claim “FREE WORK FROM HOME AREAS” was misleading.

On that point, the ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 (Misleading advertising) and 3.25 (Free).

 

Action

 

The ad must not appear again in the form complained of. We told Quintain Living Ltd not to describe an element of a package as “free” if that element was included in the package price unless consumers were likely to regard it as an additional benefit because it had recently been added to the package without increasing its price. We also told them not to mislead consumers about the average saving they would make on energy costs.

 

https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/quintain-living-ltd-a24-1244037-quintain-living-ltd.html

 

Wembley Park ward is not included in the Brent Council Landlord Licensing Scheme because it does not meet the Council's threshold for inclusion.

Private rents in Brent soar 33.9% in a year ONS statistics show

Source

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the period to June 2024 show that since June 2023 there has been a 33.9% increase in private rents in the borough.

 

This compares with a maximum increase of 3.8% (for flats) in houses purchases over the 12 month period.

 The latest statistics confirm the problem that Brent Council faces due to the rise in private sector rents when looking for accommodation for homeless families.

They also challenge the claim that the increase in the number of built to rent homes in the borough, let at market rents, will via market pressures reduce rents overall.

On the basis of house prices there appears to  be an economic case for owers of detached houses to convert their property into flats as we have seen in corner site properties in the Salmon Street area of Kingsbury.

Brent today: A tale of two parks. Would you help set up a Friends of King Eddie's Park?

 Guest post by Jaine Lunn

What a difference Brent Council has been made to Sherrins Open Space, this year it is in full bloom as a wild flower meadow with lots of different species, sporting a rainbow of colour,  some I don't know the names of but daisies, poppies and sunflowers. At the beginning of the year special attention was given to the area designated for meadow with some radical maintenance turning over the soil and reseeding and it has made all the difference.   On Saturdays this park benefits from a group of people who have been given Community Service, who not only empty bins but make an effort to pick up all debris around the whole of the park, and sweep the car park.  A good job has been done by all and let's hope it stays this way.

 

Which brings me on to the state of the park locals fondly nickname “King Eddies”  - King Edward VII Park, now a shadow of its former glory,  

 

It was once the premier Green Flag Park  in Wembley. This year is the anniversary of its opening on 4th July of 1914 by Queen Alexandra in memory of her late husband King Edward VII.  It was laid to compensate Wembley residents for the loss of park land of Wembley Park which was being developed as a high class residential garden suburb (this is description is quoted  in a book titled Images of Wembley by Geoffrey Hewlett- a planning officer for Brent Council for most of his career)

 

 The band stand and rather grand looking Park Lane School, 2014

 

 View over King Edward VII Park, 1920

The flower beds

In 2012 for Queen Elizabeth's Jubilee this park was designated protection from "Fields in Trust" one of only three parks in Brent with that protection. The others are Mapesbury Dell and Roe Green Walled Garden in Kingsbury, it obviously has not made any difference here.  Why has Brent Park Forums not intervened?

 

 

The once beautiful flower beds have been replaced by perennial plants, low maintenance plants, or should I say devoid of any maintenance whatsoever, are not attended to at all, are now unloved and not deserving of any merit.

 

The area designated as wildflower meadow and celebrated by Brent Council as a "Bee Highway" is no more, just long unkempt grass, devoid of any flowers, full of plastic and glass bottles, a danger for any children or dogs who choose to venture in.

 

 The footpaths around the park could do with a complete makeover, full of cracks or water bubbling up when it rains hard as the drains can't cope.  Especially the footpath between Collins Lodge and the children’s play area which has been churned up and now houses a huge crater which anyone walking along needs to pay special attention especially mums with pushchairs or anyone who has a mobility issue.

 

 

 

A manhole cover which has been installed has a foot deep gap surround that if anyone was to accidentally step into would surely succumb to a serious injury let alone break an ankle, whether child or adult.

 

 

Bins are left unemptied for days on end.

 

 

Remains of a portable BBQ - which is against the by-laws that  nobody pays any attention to.

 

 

Football area strewn with plastic bottles which are never picked up or deposited in the bins by the users of the pitches.

 

 

It is very sad to see that for our cricket obsessed Asian residents the demise of the cricket pitches that were once marked out during the summer. Now they are only marked out for football and cricketers are resigned to using the MUGA cage or the periphery of the football pitches which is not ideal as it leaves other park users at risk of being hit by a cricket ball!

 

The children’s play area leaves a lot to be desired in comparison to what is on offer in other boroughs close by. 

 

This is now a very well used park, especially by all the residents who now live in all the flats that have been built around Wembley with no outside space, this park is in serious need of upgrade and why can't the council use some of its millions £££ NCIL money to upgrade this park to its former glory.  After all isn't that what Community infrastructure Levy is for?

 

It desperately needs the same as Roundwood Park in Willesden:

 

·      New benches and more seating.

·      A picnic area with tables and benches

·      Larger bins

·      A cafe

·      A water fountain for all users

·      Toilets

 

Whilst I note that planning permission was granted for SBC Boxing Club to build a new pavilion that would house a cafe and toilets this yet remains to be seen whether it will come to fruition.

 

We also don't have a "Friends of King Eddies" association like many other parks in Brent, any chance we could get one going?  I'd be happy to join and help set one up.

 

 

If you would like to help write to Martin at wembleymatters@virginmedia.com with your contacts and I will pass on to Jaine.