One year on from their fracking protest Brent FoE shape up for a fight against Park Royal proposals

Brent  FoE's fracking protest outsiode Willesden Green Station in October 2013

In response to London Local Energy's application for a licence to frack for shale gas in Park Royal, Brent, Ian Saville joint Co-ordinator of Brent Friends of the Earth (Brent FoE) says,

We resolutely oppose fracking in Brent, or anywhere else, and urge Brent Council to turn down the application by London Local Energy to site a well head in Park Royal. Fracking is a dirty technology that may seriously damage our health, environment and is very likely to worsen climate change. Shale gas is a dirty fossil fuel that will add to the dangerous levels of greenhouse gases in the environment. It should be left in the ground.

Regulatory systems are not strong enough to protect against leaks of toxic chemicals used in the fracking process. This threatens our soil and water supplies. Fracking uses vast quantities of water - in the region of 4 million gallons per well head – which are lost to public supply.

We cannot count on fracking to reduce our fuel bills. Instead we need to invest in renewables and energy saving to heat our homes.

Brent Friends of the Earth have been lobbying their MPs and parliamentary candidates about fracking in London. You can read an update on their talks with Glenda Jackson on their website HERE

Jenny Jones, Green Party AM, said:

The suggestion that London’s residents will not notice the noise and disruption of fracking trucks as it already has high levels of traffic and noise is truly insulting.

Boris Johnson can’t just brush these off as NIMBY issues. More noise, pollution on our roads is completely unacceptable. Nor should the risks of contaminating ground water with toxic chemicals be underestimated. 

At a time when current trends mean that we are on course for a catastrophic 4 degree temperature increase, our priority must be switching to renewables such as solar/wind and getting serious about energy conservation. 

Exploiting even more fossil fuels such as fracked oil or gas that can only accelerate global warming just isn’t an option.

Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council, assured Brent Friends of the Earth of the Council's opposition to fracking when they demonstration against it in 2013. LINK 

Cllr Butt was interviewed on BBC London's Breakfast Show this morning about the licence application. Listen from 01.43 LINK

Brent allotment holders encouraged to go green as sites with short waiting lists advertised

Birchen Grove allotments near the Welsh Harp

It is good to see Vanessa Hampton, Brent Food Growing and Allotments Officer, taking action to encourage greener gardening by allotment tenants.  This was sent to allotment holders today:

Earlier this year I ran a couple of free cultivation classes which were attended by approx. 50 people.  So back by popular demand I’ve organised another 2 classes which any tenant is welcome to come along to.  The classes are identical, so you don’t need to go to both.

We will be covering useful topics for beginners on the allotments looking at tools and how to get your plot cleared and dug over, composting and how to garden more sustainably, reducing the use of chemicals on a plot.

The classes start at 10.30am and there will be a poster on the gate showing where I am on site if you can’t see me from the entrance. The class will last for approx. 2 hours and I have enclosed a useful information sheet that covers some of the subjects we’ll go over in the class.

Saturday 29 November at Gladstone Park Gardens allotment, Dollis Hill, Broadfield Close entrance, NW2 6NR  Map and travel info   There is a car park at this allotment.

Saturday 10 January 2014 at Woodfield Avenue allotment, North Wembley, HA0 3TP  Map and travel info   The entrance to the allotment and car park is in the park: go down Sudbury Avenue, take the first turn on the right into the park and you will see a building, North Wembley pavilion and the car park opposite where the gate to allotment is. 

I will also be contacting every tenant in December to invite them to complete a short questionnaire about their gardening methods with a view to finding out how green are our plot holders, for example do you have a water butt if you have a shed and how often do you use pesticides?  We will then re-survey everyone in a year’s time to see if people are getting greener.

I am also producing a Conservation Management Plan for the allotments and the aim will be to improve the places for wildlife at every site.  This will involve some fun habitat improvement activities like making log piles and ponds, building bird boxes and managing hedgerows.  If you are interested in joining in with a habitat improvement activity on your allotment site, please let me know.

Meanwhile the Council is advertising some potential plots on its website:

If you fancy your hand at food growing, some of our allotments have short waiting lists where you can be offered a plot within a year or so.

The short waiting lists are at:

• Cecil Avenue, Wembley, HA9 7DY
• Dors Close, Kingsbury, NW9 7NT
• Kinch Grove, Kenton, HA9 9TF
• Lyon Park Avenue, Wembley, HA0 4DZ
• Sudbury Court Road, Harrow, HA1 3SD

Allotments are a great way of growing good quality and fresh fruit and vegetables for your family and friends at a low cost.

Apply online for an allotment plot or call 020 8937 5619.

Brent Full Council Meeting moved to December 8th

Following rumours that the Full Council Meeting due on Novembver 17th was being cancelled or delayed I emailed Democratic Serrvices this afternoon for confirmation and asked for the reason.  I had heard that it was connected with legal cases currently in process.

Peter Goss, Democratic Services Manager, sent this at 5.29pm:

Councillors have this afternoon been notified that the Full Council meeting on 17 November has been moved to 8 December in order that the outcome of the consultation on the borough plan can be considered as part of the 1st reading of the budget.  The web site has been amended to reflect this change.

Chalkhill families enjoy the sunshine in their very special park

I was lovely to see families out enjoy in the autumn sunshine in Chalkhill Park this afternoon. People were relaxed and happy at this unexpected bonus at the end of the half-term holiday.

More evidence of how important these social open spaces and play facilities are. Councillors may boast about the Civic Centre but I thibk this is, in the long run, a much more significant achievement.

Stonebridge: So much more than just a playground

United in the battle to save Stonebridge Adventure Playground

The Kilburn Times is playing a gteat role in publicising and supporting the fight to save Stonebridge Adventure Playground. Unfortunately they have not had a Letters Page for several weeks so I print below a letter I sent them:

 It has been gratifying to see the Brent & Kilburn Times getting behind the local community's fight to save Stonebridge Adventure Playground.

I recently attended the Wembley Connects forum where we were invited to shape a vision for the improvement of the borough. One strong theme that emerged was the need for social spaces where our diverse population could meet, share common interests and learn about each other. It was argued that this  would help produce community cohesion and solidarity.

Stonebridge Adventure Playground is such a space where generations of children and their parents and carers have mixed and shared each others company in an area of disadvantage.  It was noteworthy that Doug and Glynis Lee's MBE nomination for their work on the playground was from grown up children who had helped them build it back in the 1970s.

By concentrating on bricks and mortar Brent Council is in danger of ignoring the role that such places play, not just in the obvious provision of play opportunities but in the way the play workers know generations of people in the area who used the Adventure Playground as children. They are well known in the community, have its respect and contribute positively to its stability. They provide a safe place where through the opportunity to play children children can become confident, independent and sociable. This largely invisible contribution to children's development can make a massive impact on children's future lives.

A local teacher posted this comment on my blog:

I used the adventure playground as a child. I remember bonfire nights, tuck shop, arts and crafts, movies, pool, arcades, table tennis and camping trips. I was welcomed to work there as a volunteer into my late teens which helped focus me toward my career in teaching. Ive been back to visit a number of times and am blown away to see children from all backgrounds, special needs and mainstream all playing together. It's currently ahead of its time.

Its heart breaking to know that there is enough money out there to supplement the money that it already raises for itself, to keep it open.
Shortsightedness must not prevail. Keep Stonebridge Adventure Playground open!!

Replacing the Adventure Playground with an unstaffed kickabout area next to the main road is tokenistic and insulting to the children of Stonebridge and Harlesden.

We need housing and we need school places but not at the expense of destroying something so valuable.

Brent Council must think again and come up with a solution that recognises the value of Stonebridge Adventure Playground and its work.

Martin Francis
Trustee
Brent Play Association

Bonfire night fireworks for a Brent senior manager?

There is an intriguing item on Brent Council's General Purposes Committee agenda for November 5th:

Senior Manager Restructuring Proposals 

This report outlines proposals for a further restructuring with two aims: refocusing the Council’s senior management and corporate centre to meet the substantial challenges the organisation must manage over the next period and inevitable reduction in staffing; further streamlining to deliver a £1.4 million saving in senior management costs.

Clearly £1.4m is a substantial sum so the proposals could be far-reaching. They come only a little over 18 months since the last restructuring LINK.

Unfortunately the Council has decided that the proposal must remain concealed from the public by virtue of paragraph(s) 1, 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. This protects proposals relating to an individual and which reveals the identity of the individual.

On the same agenda is a new policy on Learning and Development authored by Cara Davani. Cara Davani was the second respondent in the Employment Tribunal case against Rosemary Clarke, former head of Learning and Development.

The Watford Employment Tribunal found that Clarke had been racially discriminated against, victimised and constructively dismissed.

Brent Council is appealing the Employment Tribunal's judgment.

The new policy abolishes employees' access to funding to gain job related professional qualifications. It states:

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Key changes include a consistent approach to work experience and internships, the latter of which must be paid. Given the budgetary pressures the council is facing, the council is no longer able to support funding for professional qualifications, although paid time off may be available in accordance with the council’s Time Off policy.

Funding will still exist for specific initiatives, such as BAME Senior Management Development programmes

The proposed full policy document can be found HERE

Natalie Bennett: Abolish politicised Ofsted & replace with collaborative body

 

Cartoon: Rose Asquith, Education Guardian

Natalie Bennett's letter to the Guardian today

Your vox pop of senior education figures (The verdict on Ofsted? ‘requires improvement’, Education, 28 October) was damning. It is clear that all trust has been lost; Ofsted is regarded as a highly politicised, untrustworthy, damaging organisation. That’s one reason why the Green party is calling for its abolition and replacement with continuous collaborative assessment and a national council of educational excellence working closely with local authorities.

Of course we need more change than that. The state of Ofsted is a reflection of the state of a system that is vastly overfocused on exams, has lost local democratic accountability, and has left teachers overworked, disempowered and increasingly demoralised.

Natalie Bennett
Leader, Green party

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