Another Scrutiny Call-in over Barham Park Trust Commitee decisions - scheduled for Thursday April 3rd, 2025

Persistence is the name of the game regarding the much-questioned decisions of the Barham Park Trust following the meeting on Monday 24th February where applications by councillors and public to speak were refused.

Now a combination of opposition councillors has submitted a detailed Call-in for an additional meeting of the Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee that has been approved. It covers the restricted covenants of 776 and 778 Harrow Road that the Trust is seeking to remove after a payment by developer and funfair owner,  George Irvin, as well as other operational issues.

The meeting will take place at 6pm on Thursday April 3rd in the Grand Hall at Brent Civic Centre.   

The Call-in Details:

 

 

Letter: Paddington Old Cemetery-why we think Brent is acting in an opaque and undemocratic manner

 Dear Editor

 

I writing to share our bitter disappointment in Brent Council’s decision to instruct dog owners to keep their dogs on a lead in Paddington Old Cemetery (POC) and our belief that Brent is acting in an opaque and undemocratic manner, justifying their decisions with 'fake news’.

The consultation was a fiasco from the outset, with biased questions including options like ‘do you agree/disagree that dogs should be allowed to defecate on graves?’

 

We engaged with the process and contributed to the consultation, but it has been ignored, and POC’s PSOP exemption allowing off lead walking has now been removed.  

 

Brent claim that:

- Complaints have increased to 74 last year but they refuse to tell us how many individuals this includes. For example, through an FOI request we know that when there were 65 complaints, in November 2024, 11 were individual complainants making multiple complaints

 

- They claim they are working for the community yet even in their own consultation, the majority of respondents wanted to keep off-lead walking (61% vs not 39% see chart below) and they have ignored the survey evidence that we make POC safer because of the daily, year-round, rain or shine, presence of dog walkers. We were supported by the local school (Salusbury Primary School whose green space is in POC) because a thriving dog walking community has made the space safer for children.  We have also shown that women walking alone feel safer because it’s alway busy with people enjoying the space  from the local community  (unlike all the other cemeteries in Brent where there are  hardly any people walking around).

 

 

- They are also ignoring the fact that people will be forced to drive to other places to exercise their dogs. Their two alternatives are not realistic - Tiverton Green is very small with multiple open gates, and Paddington Recreation Ground is already busy enough. 

- They have rejected the idea that the poo on graves could possibly be from foxes on the basis that there is ‘no evidence’ for that despite it being more in keeping with fox behaviour to poo on an actual grave.

 

Brent is offering to consult on a fenced off off-lead walking area, but this could cause more problems for the homeowners on Tennyson Road where they are thinking of doing this. And could have more negative impacts on dog behaviour. They are also offering to set up a 'Paddington Old Cemetery Liaison Committee' which will include DOPOC (Dogs of Paddington old Cemetery). We have been asking for engagement from the very beginning and they have ignored us. That’s why we think this might be performative.  

 

They are simply not being honest with the community. Peter Gadsdon (Head of Cemeteries) who has just retired took control of POC in 2022 when it was taken away from ‘Parks’ with a ‘dig baby dig’ plan agreed with Mo Butt. 

 

There is no more than c.125 available burial sites left at POC so the only way they can achieve this is by building multiple new mounds even though they have many other cemeteries in Brent which do not serve the wider community and the local school like POC. These are traditional cemeteries with few visitors beyond funerals and a handful of mourners a week. Is this  Brent's real pan for POC?

 

 In doing so they are taking away a valuable green community space in a very built-up area. They simply do not see the community and environmental value in all this. They have never understood POC or care that by destroying this precious green space it will have an enormous negative impact  on the whole community - not dogs.

 

Chair, DOPOC (Dogs of Paddington Old Cemetery)

 

UPDATE WITH GLA LINK: 885 units in towers up to 29 storey high in Alperton approved by Brent Council Planning Committee. Randall Avenue application pulled.

 

The crowded Atlip access road car park yesterday - 885 homes to come on the site

The application to build  885 housing units on the Atlip Centre site, Alperton, was approved yesterday as expected, despite opposition. The development will consist of 2, 8,10, 20, 23 and 29 storey buildings on a relatively small site. Planning officers recommended approval.

Unusually a long-time Alperton resident spoke in support describing the run-down nature of the site and the opportunities provided by a creative zone as well as the need for housing. Newly elected Liberal Democrat councillor Charlie Clinton spoke against with concerns about over-crowding of the area due to the density of the proposal and concern that assumptions about a car-free development were not realistic given the size of the project in terms of housing and commercial units.

There was a long discussion on the Committee with issues around failure to meet affordable housing targets and the affect of loss of daylight to neighbouring properties (deemed tolerable by planning officers as weighed against the benefits of the scheme), and of course parking - quite a issue on Ealing Road at the best of times.

There was concern about the loss of the Clay Oven Banqueting Hall with the developer claiming that there was no interest in continuing the facility from present and potential businesses. They conceded that there was a possibility of someone applying to run a similar business from one of the commercial units or facilities at the proposed community centre.

The loss of the current gym on the site was also a concern and there was discussion about using revenue from the development for the provision of an outdoor gym. 

Assurances were sought that the co-living units would not be used as student accommodation. Comparisons were made with HMOs but the developer insisted that they were an alternative to one bedroomed flats for young people and had additional shared facilities compared with HMOs. They would be professionally run.

Eventually the application was approved unanimously by the Committee.

UPDATE: The application now goes to the GLA for Stage 2 consideration and residents can make a comment on their website. Register for updates and to make a comment here HERE.

At the beginning of the meeting the controversial Randall Avenue, Dollis Hill, application was withdrawn from the agenda on officers' recommendation as discrepancies in the drawings for the development had been found. I understand that legal issues were also raised. The decision was made against the background of changes in  planning staff dealing with the application.

 

Roots of Brent Video: Don't let climate change affect our young people

 

 

A brilliant  youth-led documentary produced by Nadia Khan, Climate Action Partnerships Manager at Brent Council, is now available on YouTube and shows a wide range of inspiring community action on climate change in the borough:

Roots of Brent – A youth-led climate documentary. Young people in Brent take the spotlight in the fight against climate change with "Roots of Brent", a powerful documentary showcasing their experiences and local climate action. Premiered at the Brent Climate Showcase (20 Feb 2025), this film highlights the incredible efforts shaping a greener future. 

 

Supported by Brent Council’s climate action programme & sponsored by FM Conway

UPDATE: Bookshare facility removed from Willesden Green and other stations due to alleged fire risk

 

Users of the bookshare at Willesden Green tube station are reported to have gathered to try and reinstate it following removal due to alleged fire risk.

As spokeswoman for the voluntary Cricklewood  Library told Wembley Matters:

Cricklewood Library set up the Willesden Green book share around 2017. It was maintained by campaigners and was immediately well received. When books are on the shelves Based on a conservative estimate of five people visiting the shelves over eight hours a day, approximately 15,000 visits to the shelves are made. This is a significant number. 

 

Since the library opened in 2021 Cricklewood Library hasn't had the capacity to formally support the bookshare and it's taken on its own momentum. Donated books do get sent there if they aren't suitable for the library. The reason Friends of Cricklewood Library don't formally support the bookshare is that we are stretched to keep the library open for four days a week.

The issue of fire and safety in relation to the bookshare has been mentioned before and the books and shelves removed. However this was due to an individual with mental health problems and the shelves were reinstated.

You may have seen the article in the Standard LINK which talks about fire hazards. Willesden Green Station is not sub-surface and there are two exits. The bookshare shelves have suffered from damp and the books too, so they don't appear to be an obvious fire risk.

We are sad to see the well-established and well-loved bookshare dismantled with no notice to the community. 

The official reasons for the removal have been published on Facebook:

The London Fire Brigade said legal regulations required TfL to remove book libraries from any subsurface Tube stations. It added non-subsurface stations had been asked to remove their libraries from public display until “correct fire safety plans” were in place.

TfL said it was working to see if the libraries could make a return to non-subsurface Tube stations in future, which would be allowed if measures to mitigate fire risks are taken.

All book libraries must be withdrawn from the premises and the contents removed from the station- they do not have any approvals from our Fire Safety Unit and our regulator the LFB, this means that currently they breach the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and the Fire Precautions (Sub-surface Railways stations)(England) Regulations 2009, for example Article 7 (1) states

All parts of the station premises must be kept clear of combustible refuse or other combustible material

by failing to do this is likely to result in enforcement action from the LFB.

In addition to the above, I would add some safety justification behind the RRO and PRSSR statutory requirements.

• Combustible materials present a fire risk in a public space that is used as the means of escape in the stations.
• The fire risk mitigations that are in place to reduce fire and smoke spread in other rooms of the station are installed to provide safe evacuation for the occupants and are not present for the book libraries.
• The reason that detection, suppression and compartmentation isn’t mandated is that the public areas are to remain sterile and materials controlled to a strict standard.
• The books and the wooden cabinets are combustible and result in fire developing at a quick rate.

  There does seem to be some hope that the bookshare could be restored to Willesden Green Station after review as it is a non-subsurface station, as the Cricklewood Library spokeswoman pointed out, and has two entrances.

After all, environmentally and educationally, it is much better to share and reuse books, rather than have them dumped in landfill, burned or left on the streets as flytipping.  

UPDATE: Cllr Tariq Dar is contacting the station to make sure the remover property is safe, the London Mayor is taking up with TfL and there is a petition you can sign in support of the bookswap at Newcare Pharmacy across Station Parade from the station.

 

 

Promising test of low-carbon concrete technology in Wembley Park development

 

From Ecocem

 

Sisk has successfully completed testing of a new low-carbon technology to decarbonize concrete at its Wembley Park project site in London. Initial test results demonstrate over 70 percent of carbon savings compared to standard concrete.

The low-carbon demonstrator project received £500,000 from Innovate UK funding as part of its Contracts for Innovation to pioneer the use of ACT, Ecocem’s low-carbon concrete technology in a structure, which is the first of its kind. 

The demonstrator project was based at NE02/NE03, Wembley Park, where Sisk has been working on the redevelopment of Wembley Park for its long-term client, Quintain for the past 20 years. Sisk gathered with each of its consortium partners for an event hosted at Wembley Park to discuss its findings.

The two-storey project used a range of different construction methodologies and concrete mixes all based on ACT. From floors to precast concrete stairs, columns and walls, the initial feedback on the performance of each element is very promising. In each case the concrete made with ACT met the design specification for each application assessed and delivered a significant carbon saving of over 70 percent.

Ecocem recently announced that it has begun construction on its first production facility dedicated to ACT at its Dunkirk facility in Northern France, where it will invest over £42M (€50M). The new facility will have an initial capacity to deliver 300,000 tons of ACT annually.

This innovation will revolutionize low-carbon cement commercial viability within the construction sector. ACT, is a breakthrough cement technology which combines a range of technical innovations with the use of widely available low-carbon materials to decarbonize the production of cement by as much as 70 percent, while enhancing the strength and durability of the concrete it is used to manufacture. 

 

Ross Cullen, Chief Engineer, Sisk said:

At Sisk, we have been committed to sustainability for many years. Our low-carbon concrete journey began with the establishment of various strategies aimed at reducing our environmental impact. One of the key initiatives was the creation of an internal low-carbon concrete working group. This was formed to deepen our understanding of carbon in concrete and to explore opportunities and technologies that can help us reduce the embodied carbon in our projects.

The construction industry has a profound responsibility to reduce our climate impact. As one of the largest contributors to global carbon emissions, it is imperative that we take significant steps towards sustainability. The development of low-carbon concrete is a tremendous leap forward in this endeavour. This innovation not only reduces our carbon footprint but also sets a new standard for environmentally responsible construction practices.

 

 

Musical Theatre CODA perform at East Lane Theatre, Sudbury, on Saturday March 22nd and pledge support for the theatre faced with Brent Council's huge rent increase

 

Readers will know that the East Lane Theatre group are fighting for survival following proposals by Brent Council for a huge increase in rent. CODA, who are putting on a show at  the theatre on March 22nd, told Wembley Matters:

If the theatre is forced to close its doors it would be a devastating loss not only for our production but for the entire local community that relies on the space for creative expression and connection.

At CODA, we remain deeply committed to supporting local community theatres, and we believe that spaces like East Lane Theatre are essential for nurturing local talent and enriching the cultural landscape. We are hopeful that with the support of the community, we can ensure this vital venue remains open.

 

DETAILS

Award-winning musical theatre duo CODA are set to bring their critically acclaimed UK touring production, Songs From Stage and Screen, to East Lane Theatre on 22.03.25. This spectacular show promises to be a night of unforgettable performances, featuring iconic songs from some of the greatest musicals of all time, including Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Grease, My Fair Lady, Little Shop of Horrors, and many more.

CODA, comprised of soprano Gemma Ashley and baritone Mark ‘#ManInTheHat’ James, have captivated audiences nationwide with their dynamic vocals and charismatic stage presence. The pair met on the set of the BBC’s prime-time show All Together Now, where their shared passion for musical theatre sparked a powerful creative partnership.

“Songs From Stage and Screen is a celebration of the music that has defined the world of musical theatre and film,” said Mark James. “We’re thrilled to bring this show to Sudbury and share our love for these timeless classics with new audiences.”

Gemma added, “There’s something truly magical about performing these songs live on stage. It’s an honor to bring these stories to life and connect with audiences through the power of music.” She continued, “Our performance allows audience members to sing along, dance, and get involved if they wish—creating an interactive and joyful experience for everyone.”

As part of their UK tour, CODA is committed to supporting local independent theatres, many of which are often run by dedicated volunteers. “These theatres are the unsung heroes of the theatre world,” Gemma said. “They are places where many dreams begin, new careers are encouraged, and communities come together. Supporting these venues is our way of giving back to the very foundation of live performance.”

Songs From Stage and Screen is not just a show; it’s a journey through the history of musical theatre and cinema, brought to life by two of the most engaging voices in the business. With a setlist that spans decades and genres, the show is a must-see for fans of all ages.

Tickets for the East Lane Theatre performance on 22.03.25 are available now and can be purchased at www.muscialcoda.com or using this link
https://rb.gy/kdq9s5

Don’t miss your chance to experience the magic of CODA live in concert.

 

Cllr Nerva was wrong in his claim at Full Council that Gladstone Park and Roundwood Park have Green Flag Awards - but there is hope.

 

Brent Council has confirmed in a response to Cllr Lorber that Brent Council currently has no Green Flag awards. This confirms my statement on Twitter (above) refuting claims by Cllr Nerva (Queen's Park) during the Council meeting on February 27th, apparently after some frantic googling, that Brent had won Green Flag awards for Gladstone Park and Roundwood Park. 

His intervention came following the budget speech made by Cllr Hannah Matin, Lib Dem councillor for Alperton, who had said that she had to take her guide dog, Wendy, to parks outside of Brent for her necessary free run, because they were cleaner and safer than Brent parks.  He said:

I'd just like to pick up on a point made about parks in Brent. I've just looked up, Gladstone Park: Green Flag, Roundwood Park: Green Flag.   There are lots pf other places in Brent that provide really great recreation and wellbeing. I think it is really sad to hear someone denigrate the really hard working Brent Parks Service.

It's 'really sad' that a member of Brent Cabinet does not know that Brent Council opted out of the Green Flags Award scheme back in 2014 when parks maintenance was outsourced to Veolia. LINK

 The Award was always a great incentive across London and is international in its scope. The map below shows the Brent desert with just Roe Green Walled Garden and Queens Park marked.  The Walled Carden is looked after  by the Barn Hill Conservation Group rather than Brent Council/Continental Landscapes (the new contractor) and Queens Park by the City of London Corporation. 

 Indeed there is some hope as Continental Landscapes features in the 2024 Green Flag Awards list for work in some other London boroughs and applications have been made for King Edward VII Park and Bramshill Open Space.

It is to be hoped that Brent Council will listen to residents who truly value their parks, including supporters of Barham Park who were recently refused a hearing, and renew their commitment through participation in the Green Glag Award scheme.

Back in 2011 I celebrated Fryent Country Park's Green Flag Award with congratulations to Brent Council and a video showing the park throuh the seasons.

A rather tattered green flag remained in the Fryent Way car park for some time after the Council withdrew from the Award.