WEMBLEY MATTERS News and views on local politics, the environment, climate change, culture and local history
Friday 13 May 2016
The email behind tonight's Evening Standard story on Tayo Oladapo
I am now in possesion of the full email sent to members of the Brent Labour Executive on the 8th May on which today's Evening Standard article is based. It was leaked because the person concerned was disturbed by the claim that Cllr Butt involved a junior member of staff in investigating a councillor's death, rather than because they throught Muhammed Butt was trying to avoid a by-election. The leaker says that neither Michael Pavey nor Bobby Thomas (apparently another possible leadership challenger tomorrow) passed on the email.
THE EMAIL
THE EMAIL
I find it extremely inappropriate that Cllr Butt involved myself - a junior member of staff - in investigating Cllr Oladapo’s death and deeply concerning that he appears to have misled both Brent Council and Labour Party staff regarding his knowledge of this sad occurrence. I am also disturbed that no investigation has been launched into this issue, despite my having raised these concerns with relevant party officials in early March.
My involvement in investigating Cllr Oladapo’s death
Cllr Tayo Oladapo died on 29 January 2016. But this was not reported publicly until 11 March 2016.
It was me who discovered that Tayo had died. I visited the Royal Free Hospital on 4 March 2016 to check on Tayo’s condition. I was informed that he died on 29 January 2016. I reported this to the London Regional Labour Party, who notified Cllr Butt on 7 March.
The reason I visited the hospital (4 March, evening) was because on 2 March Cllr Muhammed Butt told me that he believed Tayo was dead, and that he had been dead for a month.
Cllr Butt said that Tayo’s mother had taken Tayo back to Nigeria because she didn’t want any treatment for her son in the UK.
Cllr Butt told me that he had been in contact with Tayo’s family - but that they would no longer take his calls and had blocked his number. Cllr Butt asked me to call Tayo’s sister because he believed Tayo had been dead for a month. He urged me not to tell London Region if Tayo’s sister confirmed her brother had passed away.
I was new to Brent and had only been working here for 5 weeks. I didn’t understand why Cllr Butt was asking me who had never even met Tayo to make such sensitive inquiries?
I was shocked that Cllr Butt didn’t ask the Labour Group Whip or Brent Council’s electoral services department to investigate a matter of this level of seriousness. Cllr Butt told me that he didn’t want a by-election to take place in Kilburn, but I didn’t understand why this was the case.
I didn’t understand why he asked me to investigate at the Civic Centre, I was there to discuss how campaigning was going and how he could whip Councillors.
The thought of calling Tayo’s sister (a complete stranger) out of the blue to ask her whether her brother had died made me extraordinarily uncomfortable.
But because Cllr Butt is the Leader of the Council I felt obliged to do something, so I went to the hospital. On reflection I deeply regret this.
Once I found out that Tayo had indeed been dead for over a month I became even more uncomfortable.
2 March
I reported my concerns to Mark Walker, Regional Organiser for Brent & Harrow at London Region on 2 March. (After I saw Cllr Butt) I was told that this matter would be taken extremely seriously. Mark told me to speak to the sister and said ‘anything the sister tells me is the gospel’
I tried to contact Tayo’s sister several times but got no response.
4 March
I visited the Royal Free Hospital at around 8pm and was told Tayo had passed away on 29th January.
7 March
On 7 March in the morning, I had a conversation with Mark and he said that Cllr Butt said he had no idea.
I informed both Mark and Pat Harrison, Secretary of the Brent Council Labour Group at a meeting in Pavitt Hall that I was concerned that Cllr Butt may have known that Tayo had past away over a month ago.
On 7 March I was told by London Region that Cllr Butt had been ordered to report this matter to the Brent Labour Group meeting on the 7 March. But Cllr Butt did not even mention Tayo at this meeting. At this point I started to become seriously concerned that this extremely serious issue was not being handled appropriately.
These feelings were confirmed when I found out that in the Labour Group Executive premeeting on the evening of 7 March, Cllr Butt stated that when Region called to tell him that a Brent Cllr had died, he claimed he didn’t know which Cllr.
But Region only knew Tayo was dead because Cllr Butt himself had asked me to investigate because he himself believed Tayo had been dead for a month.
I was told by Mark that Cllr Butt would contact the Borough Commander, as there needed to be evidence to call a by-election on 5 May.
8 March
On 8 March at a GLA Task force meeting, Cllr Butt at the end mentioned that Tayo was not dead and that I had got the details wrong. I immediately said that he should speak directly to Mark Walker.
10 March
On 10 March I was at the London Region office and Mark mentioned that Cllr Butt had not spoken to the Borough Commander, I made it clear that I felt very uncomfortable and said that Tayo’s death needs to be announced.
In the end Mark Walker had to contact the Borough Commander to get confirmation of Tayo’s death.
11 March
Tayo’s death was finally announced publicly on 11 March from this point onwards I have solely focused on the by-election. But I have become more and more troubled by the fact that there has been no investigation into these events.
I informed Pat Harrison and Mark Walker at London Region that Cllr Butt told me on 2 March that he believed Tayo had been dead for a month. This is an extremely serious allegation - not least because it means that the Full Council meeting on 22nd February was knowingly misled. But there has been absolutely no investigation.
Instead, I have been left to carry this immense burden. As someone who is completely new to Brent I think this is extremely inappropriate. I have been left alone to try and deal with the fact that a young man’s death may well have been covered-up by a senior politician and continue to work with him.
Of course I recognise that an election campaign is an extremely charged political atmosphere, but on a matter of this seriousness there really should have been a formal investigation.
Because I have been so determined to secure a Labour victory on May 5th I have kept my mouth shut now for two months. This has been extremely uncomfortable. Now that the election is out of the way and I am leaving I feel it would be inappropriate not to raise these concerns.
I never met Tayo, but from everything I’ve heard of him he was an honourable and decent man. His memory deserves better than this.
Best,
Evening Standard alleges Cllr Butt concealed Tayo Oladapo's death to avoid by-election
The London Evening Standard LINK today said that it had seen e-mails that showed a 'former Labour staffer' had been told to conceal Cllr Oladapo''s death because Cllr Butt did not want a by-election in Kilburn. The article quotes 'Labour insiders' as saying Butt did not want a by-election in case an 'unsupportive' candidate was elected affecting his chances in the leadership election.
Cllr Michael Pavey, who is contesting the leadership, has called for a full investigation into these 'very serious allegations'.
The Kilburn Times has published a story on the Standard story which includes comment by Muhammed Butt and Cllr John Duffy LINK
Cllr Michael Pavey, who is contesting the leadership, has called for a full investigation into these 'very serious allegations'.
The Kilburn Times has published a story on the Standard story which includes comment by Muhammed Butt and Cllr John Duffy LINK
'Agreed as recommended' - Record of Wednesday's Planning Committee
Here is the official record of the decisions made at Wednesday's Brent Planning Committee
Declarations of personal and prejudicial interests
Members are invited to declare at this stage
of the meeting, any relevant personal and prejudicial interests and
discloseable pecuniary interests in any
matter to be considered at this meeting.
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Minutes of the previous meeting (to follow)
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Additional documents:
Decision:
Agreed as recommended and a further condition
that the width of boulevard to be 10 metres during
construction.
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Additional documents:
Decision:
Agreed as recommended subject to revised S106
heads of terms requiring the submission of a revised Travel Plan
which included increased targets for cycling and revisions to
condition 40 (air quality) so that it refers to the consideration
of particulate matter.
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Additional documents:
Decision:
Agreed as recommended, subject to a condition
requiring the approval of details relating to the air quality
impacts of the coach parking.
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.
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Additional documents:
Decision:
Agreed as recommended.
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Additional documents:
Decision:
Agreed as recommended.
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PDF 1 MBYellow Pavilion, Wembley - Open Mic and Stay & Play for adults
From Yellow Pavilion, Olympic Way, Wembley (don't be put off by the road works on Olympic Way - the Pavilion is still open)
Wembley Open Mic ◦ Wed 18th May ◦ 19:30-21:00 ◦ 18+ ◦ free
Come for a night of entertainment at Wembley Open Mic. Mix and mingle, see ten local talented singers, performers and artists as we put the spotlight on the stars of tomorrow. Contact wembleyopenmic@gmail.com for details or to enquire about volunteering (including filming) on the night.
Playshop for adults ◦ Sun 22nd May ◦ 14:00 - 15:15 ◦ age 18+ ◦ free ◦ booking not required
Come and let out your inner child for an hour or two! Join Leah for a light-hearted workshop of old-school games like tag, wink murder and grandmother’s footsteps, along with lots of others you may never have heard of. Contact Leah at hello@leahmarjoriecox.com for details.
We also have our regular programme including free 1-1 help using a computer for beginners, women only fitness, free jewellery making and free creative writing. Days and times of these and our other activities are at http://bit.ly/1rXnZCu
Wembley Open Mic ◦ Wed 18th May ◦ 19:30-21:00 ◦ 18+ ◦ free
Come for a night of entertainment at Wembley Open Mic. Mix and mingle, see ten local talented singers, performers and artists as we put the spotlight on the stars of tomorrow. Contact wembleyopenmic@gmail.com for details or to enquire about volunteering (including filming) on the night.
Playshop for adults ◦ Sun 22nd May ◦ 14:00 - 15:15 ◦ age 18+ ◦ free ◦ booking not required
Come and let out your inner child for an hour or two! Join Leah for a light-hearted workshop of old-school games like tag, wink murder and grandmother’s footsteps, along with lots of others you may never have heard of. Contact Leah at hello@leahmarjoriecox.com for details.
We also have our regular programme including free 1-1 help using a computer for beginners, women only fitness, free jewellery making and free creative writing. Days and times of these and our other activities are at http://bit.ly/1rXnZCu
Thursday 12 May 2016
Resident launches petition to Sadiq Khan after Council agrees Wembley Stadium tower blocks planning application
I have received this from Sonia Shah. The petition can be signed HERE
Brent Council approved all 5 planning applications related to the Quintain-owned lands around Wembley Stadium in just a single planning committee meeting on Wednesday evening. This is in spite of two councillors not being in attendance (under legal advice) and a third leaving before the final item was addressed. The new developments include high rise housing, more hotels and more student accommodation (with limited natural light which, according to Quintain, is irrelevant since it's temporary accommodation).
Plans for the car parks were approved last night by Brent Council, along with a scheme to bring 4,850 new homes, 350,000sq ft of new offices and shops, two new hotels, a new seven-acre public park, student accomodation and a 600-place primary school to Wembley Park as part of one of the biggest regeneration schemes in Europe.
Julie Harrington, operations director at the FA, last night told the council’s planning committee the location of the car parks off South Way “created genuine public order and safety concerns which would serve as a retrograde step for the stadium.” She said developer Quintain was ”working from a position to maximise profits” rather than to “protect fan safety”. “The holding of fans, the kettling of fans, that’s a return to the 1970s in my view. Even a short amount of time holding people, irate fans from teams that have lost, or rival fans mixing together is too much.” Ms Harrington warned that the FA “would not be able to attract major events to Wembley if fan’s can’t leave the car park.” “We cannot be complacent about the huge steps forward made in stadium safety in the past two decades. No-one should believe that its acceptable to herd fans like cattle. We must learn from past mistakes.”
The Football Association also argued that more flats by Wembley stadium would cause worrying safety issues http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/wembley-stadium-tower-block-plan-would-risk-fans-safety-a3245221.html What about the number of new residents needing to see local GPs and the effect on local hospitals? Having already closed Central Middlesex and Hammersmith A & E departments, they are now threatening to cut 500 hospital beds http://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/revealed-london-nhs-chiefs-to-axe-enough-beds-to-fill-a-hospital-in-battle-to-plug-1bn-black-hole-a3244251.html
Councillor Michael Maurice, the only member of the planning committee to vote against the proposals, told the meeting: “Up to 5,000 fans kettled? We don’t want to see another Hillsborough.” (A statement here on the original petition has now been removed by Sonia Shah - see comemnts below)
Objectors are also opposed to the size and scale of seven residential and commerical tower blocks of up to 19 storeys which were also given outline approval. Critics say they could block “iconic” views of Wembley from across London.
What chance do local residents have to try and make Brent Council see sense if they won’t listen to the FA, Sport England and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport?
Brent Council have given the go ahead for another 4,500 more homes in Wembley High Road and another 4,000 by the canal in Alperton. They are also planning to build flats where the Fountain TV studios are and St Josephs social club (close to London Designer Outlet) is closing, it sits on a nice large piece of land just suitable ..for more flats?
Add to this the impact of events at the Stadium and the Arena - capacity of 90K plus staff at the stadium and 12K plus staff at the Arena = a potential extra 105K people in the area if events are on at both venues.
What about public transport?
What about refuse collection – does the contract Veolia have with Brent Council include dealing with waste from all these new homes?
What about services like sewers, water supplies, gas, electric?
What about the environment as a whole?
Brent Council has experienced a torrent of internal squabbles over the last few weeks, and rushing through such proposals, that'll have a huge impact on the surrounding area, is simply irrational.
Stop Brent Council from rushing through planning applications for big developments
I am a resident of Wembley, and an active member of resident-led campaign Keep Wembley Tidy. I would appreciate it if you could spare a minute to take a look at my petition, and circulate/publicise it. There is a great concern for public safety at Wembley Stadium and the surrounding area.Brent Council approved all 5 planning applications related to the Quintain-owned lands around Wembley Stadium in just a single planning committee meeting on Wednesday evening. This is in spite of two councillors not being in attendance (under legal advice) and a third leaving before the final item was addressed. The new developments include high rise housing, more hotels and more student accommodation (with limited natural light which, according to Quintain, is irrelevant since it's temporary accommodation).
Plans for the car parks were approved last night by Brent Council, along with a scheme to bring 4,850 new homes, 350,000sq ft of new offices and shops, two new hotels, a new seven-acre public park, student accomodation and a 600-place primary school to Wembley Park as part of one of the biggest regeneration schemes in Europe.
Julie Harrington, operations director at the FA, last night told the council’s planning committee the location of the car parks off South Way “created genuine public order and safety concerns which would serve as a retrograde step for the stadium.” She said developer Quintain was ”working from a position to maximise profits” rather than to “protect fan safety”. “The holding of fans, the kettling of fans, that’s a return to the 1970s in my view. Even a short amount of time holding people, irate fans from teams that have lost, or rival fans mixing together is too much.” Ms Harrington warned that the FA “would not be able to attract major events to Wembley if fan’s can’t leave the car park.” “We cannot be complacent about the huge steps forward made in stadium safety in the past two decades. No-one should believe that its acceptable to herd fans like cattle. We must learn from past mistakes.”
The Football Association also argued that more flats by Wembley stadium would cause worrying safety issues http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/wembley-stadium-tower-block-plan-would-risk-fans-safety-a3245221.html What about the number of new residents needing to see local GPs and the effect on local hospitals? Having already closed Central Middlesex and Hammersmith A & E departments, they are now threatening to cut 500 hospital beds http://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/revealed-london-nhs-chiefs-to-axe-enough-beds-to-fill-a-hospital-in-battle-to-plug-1bn-black-hole-a3244251.html
Councillor Michael Maurice, the only member of the planning committee to vote against the proposals, told the meeting: “Up to 5,000 fans kettled? We don’t want to see another Hillsborough.” (A statement here on the original petition has now been removed by Sonia Shah - see comemnts below)
Objectors are also opposed to the size and scale of seven residential and commerical tower blocks of up to 19 storeys which were also given outline approval. Critics say they could block “iconic” views of Wembley from across London.
What chance do local residents have to try and make Brent Council see sense if they won’t listen to the FA, Sport England and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport?
Brent Council have given the go ahead for another 4,500 more homes in Wembley High Road and another 4,000 by the canal in Alperton. They are also planning to build flats where the Fountain TV studios are and St Josephs social club (close to London Designer Outlet) is closing, it sits on a nice large piece of land just suitable ..for more flats?
Add to this the impact of events at the Stadium and the Arena - capacity of 90K plus staff at the stadium and 12K plus staff at the Arena = a potential extra 105K people in the area if events are on at both venues.
What about public transport?
What about refuse collection – does the contract Veolia have with Brent Council include dealing with waste from all these new homes?
What about services like sewers, water supplies, gas, electric?
What about the environment as a whole?
Brent Council has experienced a torrent of internal squabbles over the last few weeks, and rushing through such proposals, that'll have a huge impact on the surrounding area, is simply irrational.
This petition will be delivered to:
- Barry Gardiner MP
- Football Association
- Mayor of London
Sadiq Khan
Should others be butting into the Brent Labour leadership contest?
The contest for the leadership of the Labour Group on Brent Council spilled over into the Planning Committee last night as tensions boiled over ahead of Saturday's decision.
Current indications are that the vote will be close. I have been unable to substantiate suggestions that a third candidate has thrown her/his hat into the ring but discount a commenter's suggestion that Neil Hamilton is just the person to bring integrity back into Brent Council.
Michael Pavey has come in for criticism over his failure to support parents campaigning againsg the forced acadmeisation of Gladstone Primary and Copland High schools while there has been claim and counter-claim over the nature of his politics in reaction to his 'manifesto letter'. (See comments HERE)
Muhammed Butt has been criticised for his actions over pushing for the double Planning Committee this week and blamed for the resulting chaos, as well as ongoing criticism for his over-controlling behaviour in general.
Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have lobbed in a few bricks of their own with John Warren writing to the CEO and Paul Lorber to Jeremy Corbyn calling for action against Butt over the Facebook issue.
Former councillor Alison Hopkins has revealed that Cllr Butt made several attempts to join the the Liberal Democrats but Paul Lorber has not responded to a request to confirm the allegation.
These interventions could well cause some councillors to close ranks around Butt who has yet to issue his own manifesto for his continued leadership - or if he has, perhaps someone could pass it on.
Some have wanted this contest to be kept strictly an internal Labour Group affair and dislike public discussion such as has happened on this blog. This does raise an interesting question about the extent to which the public should have a view, or even a say, in who leads their Council. Afer all they will be at the receiving end of any change in policy as a result of the contest.
Current indications are that the vote will be close. I have been unable to substantiate suggestions that a third candidate has thrown her/his hat into the ring but discount a commenter's suggestion that Neil Hamilton is just the person to bring integrity back into Brent Council.
Michael Pavey has come in for criticism over his failure to support parents campaigning againsg the forced acadmeisation of Gladstone Primary and Copland High schools while there has been claim and counter-claim over the nature of his politics in reaction to his 'manifesto letter'. (See comments HERE)
Muhammed Butt has been criticised for his actions over pushing for the double Planning Committee this week and blamed for the resulting chaos, as well as ongoing criticism for his over-controlling behaviour in general.
Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have lobbed in a few bricks of their own with John Warren writing to the CEO and Paul Lorber to Jeremy Corbyn calling for action against Butt over the Facebook issue.
Former councillor Alison Hopkins has revealed that Cllr Butt made several attempts to join the the Liberal Democrats but Paul Lorber has not responded to a request to confirm the allegation.
These interventions could well cause some councillors to close ranks around Butt who has yet to issue his own manifesto for his continued leadership - or if he has, perhaps someone could pass it on.
Some have wanted this contest to be kept strictly an internal Labour Group affair and dislike public discussion such as has happened on this blog. This does raise an interesting question about the extent to which the public should have a view, or even a say, in who leads their Council. Afer all they will be at the receiving end of any change in policy as a result of the contest.
Wednesday 11 May 2016
Controversial development around Wembley Stadium approved by Brent Planning Committee despite FA opposition
Julie Harrington speaks for the FA against Quintain's planning application
A depleted Brent planning Committee approved all 5 planning applications related to the Quintain (Texan company Lone Star) owned lands around Wembley Stadium tonight. They include high rise housing, more hotels and more student accommodation.
The Committee was depleted because two councillors said they had been unable to read the huge number of documents (on paper and on-line) associated with each application after having read all the paper's for Monday's meeting earlier this week. Legal advice was that they should not attend. Cllr Sarah Marquis, chair, was therefore absent and so was Cllr Patel. Cllr Colacicco left before the final item leaving just 5 councillors making the decisions.
There was a battle on the main application between Quintain and the Football Association each drawing on their consultants' reports. At one stage there were 4 people from Quintain occupying the speaker seats for deputations.
Julie Harrington made an impassioned speech on behalf of the Football Association. She stressed that they were a non-profit making organisation - everything got ploughed back into football. Unspoken was the fact that Quintain are very much a profit making organisation. Harrington stressed the threat of the development to the safety of fans and the FA's duty to preserve the status of the National Stadium.
Quintain relied on their experts to rebut the claims and emphasised how much their developments were benefiting Wembley.
Brent Planning Officers were challenged as to why a record of a meeting between the FA and Chris Whyte of Brent Council on community safety had not been submitted to the Committee and over officers' claim that TfL supported the application when in fact TfL had said there was much to be concerned about.
Generally the officers spoke in support of Quintain and minimised any issues.
When Cllr Stopp in his presentation remarked that he sometimes wondered why there was no Brent Cabinet member for Quintain it drew an angry response from Cllr Shafique Choudhary who accused him of bringing the upcoming Brent Labour Group AGM into the matter.
The Legal Officer (the same one who advised against Sarah Marquis' deferral motion on Monday, said it was unfortunate that Cllr Stopp had brought politics into the arena which the Planning Committee was strictly non-political (tell that to Cllr Butt who persuaded committee members, behind the chair's back, to hold two meetings this week before the AGM. Legal also intevened when Stopp said some councillors were not present because of the volume of documents that had to be read. She said 'I hope the public feel comfortable that members of the Committee present have read all the documentation.' There were cries of 'No!' from the public gallery.
To be fair there was some probing questioning from councillors, although some of it revealed they hadn't read all the papers. Issues around crowd management, safety of routes out of the stadium, penning in of fans, access to offices and homes on event days, the amount of affordable housing and the 7 year limit on some were all discussed.
I felt that the answers were not very convincing and wanted to urge the councillors to dig deeper. Instead they tended to pause and then say 'Thank you' very politely. The Planning Officer rushed through his answers at high speed which tended to leave councillors looking a bit bewildered, pausing and then another murmered 'Thank you'.
An attempt by Cllr Maurice (Conservative) to defer the final application ignoted by Cllr Agha who was chaiting and not put to the vote. In the event Maurice voted against each application and Lia Colacicco (Labour) abstained on each except the last where she was absent.
That left Cllrs Agha, Choudhart, Ezeajughi and Mahmood (all Labour) voting through the applications.
Although an attempt may be made to bring the two sides togather Brent Planning Officers said that could not be a condition of granting the application.
There is a possibility that the FA will appeal.
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