Granville and Carlton submission on the South Kilburn Masterplan

The following submission on the SDP Masterplan for South Kilburn has been made to Brent Council by the users of The Granville Plus Centre and The Carlton Centre who live, work and study in South Kilburn: (please  click at the end for the full article which is well worth reading)

Brent Council launched a consultation on its review of the South Kilburn Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) in February 2017 which ends on the 30 March 2017. For this consultation the Council released a document over 180 pages long over 3 sections. The people from South Kilburn were given 6 weeks to comment on this document which lays out the plans for their homes, parks, health, education,small businesses, and community services in the area for the next 10 -15 years.

Each site is given 2 A4 pages in the document. The first half of the page gives the details about where the property is with the second half of the same page incorporating a short paragraph about each of these three issues: 'Description', 'Justification' and 'Design Principles'. The second page gives a vague shadow drawing of a huge block or blocks in the place of the current buildings.

There are repeated justifications for redevelopment; that the buildings are poorly built, internal design problems, or poor design and construction. Some of the justifications to tear down buildings are absurd such as "there is a lack of clarity about what is the front or the back of the property" (Crone and Zangwill) or the property "is currently in a prominent gateway position and the current development does not capitalise on this" (William Dunbar and William Saville Houses). Any idea of refurbishment is brushed aside as not viable. On the basis of this paltry and inadequate information people are expected to agree to a massive reconstruction of their lives. The end result is unclear. Certainly this document gives very little information about it. Further, much of the detail about the buildings in the document is inaccurate calling into question the accuracy of the whole document and its legal status.

We, the people of South Kilburn, reject this document for 2 reasons. Firstly, the bad process and secondly, loss of trust in what the Council are doing and why. With regard to the process, the length of the consultation coupled with the importance makes it unable to be agreed in the time period. To read the plans and think what they mean in this the time period is far too short. The vagueness of the document along with the inaccuracies make it virtually meaningless and allow the Council to do anything in South Kilburn, making any idea of a consultation farcical. Most important the vision is not the vision of the people of South Kilburn. It is an imposed vision whose prime purpose is to maximize housing.

Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group join in national demonstrations against punitive benefit sanctions

Outside Kilburn Job Centre today

Members of Unite Community, Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group and local activists protested outside Kilburn Job Centre today as part of a national protest day on sanctions.

Unite said:

Members came together across Britain today in a national day of action to stop benefits sanctions, with demonstrations in cities and towns up and down the country at over 80 job centres.

At the main demonstration, protestors gathered in London outside the Houses of Parliament and marched onwards to the Treasury and then to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to reiterate their call for the government to stop its ‘cruel and ineffective’ benefit sanctions regime.

Unite wants to highlight the shocking impact the government’s benefit sanctions are having on individuals, driving people further into poverty, misery and even death.

Since the Tories first came into power in May 2010 over 3m individuals have been referred for a sanction 8m times.

Punitive sanctions have resulted in over 318,000 people having their welfare payments cut or stopped without warning in the last year, affecting thousands of children and dependant adults. Sanctions are given for reasons such as missing or being late for appointments with the job centre, or being too sick to ‘actively seek work’.

According to the Trussell Trust, one of the main providers of food banks, more than 500,000 three day emergency food parcels have been distributed to people in crisis in the first half of 2016/17 – over 188,500 to children. The most common reason given for people turning to the food bank charity is problems and delays with their benefits.

Unite is also concerned that if people do not appeal against their first sanction, if they are sanctioned again, they will be sanctioned for longer – leaving people without money for three months or up to three years depending on the level of ‘offence’.

Figures released by DWP in December 2016 show that of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) for between 1 and 2 years during 2010 to 2015, 37 per cent were sanctioned, after challenges; of those claiming between 2 and 3 years, half (49 per cent) were sanctioned; and of those claiming between 3 and 4 years, 85 per cent were sanctioned.

Head of Unite Community Liam Groves said:

The government really needs to stop the cruel use of benefit sanctions which are destroying lives. The stress they are putting on people, and the effect on their children and wider families, is unacceptable. We should all be shocked.
 
The government has shown no evidence that benefit sanctions are working. The opposite is true, when people are in survival mode, fighting to put food on their family’s table or stressing how they will pay their bills means their mental and physical heath suffers and finding work is so much harder.

Rather than punishing the unemployed for not having a job the government should be helping people get jobs. People need a hand up – not a slap down.

Unite Scotland Community co-ordinator Jamie Caldwell highlighted the dire situation facing claimants in Scotland:

Last year an estimated total of 25,000 benefit claimants were sanctioned across Scotland – many of whom were left with nothing. What kind of a country are we living in, where a government can deliberately set out to leave children without enough to eat? It’s heart-breaking for that to happen in developing countries, but it’s a source of national scandal and shame in a rich country like the UK.

Unite in the Community co-ordinator Albert Hewitt explained that Northern Ireland’s working class has to date largely escaped the full brunt of the Tory government’s so-called welfare reforms, including benefits sanctions:

But with the Fresh Start agreement, this situation has changed. Despite the mitigation measures agreed as part of that agreement, the most vulnerable are being hard-hit by the range of punishing changes.

Unfortunately as a result of the Fresh Start Agreement, benefits sanctions are becoming an increasing reality for many of the most vulnerable in working-class communities across Northern Ireland.

Fair Funding for All Schools - Get Your Voice Heard

The changing Wembley skyline as highrise blocks reach higher and higher

View from Chalkhill Park

This view drew my attention yesterday as I walked past Chalkhill Park, Wembley. It shows the central lift shaft of one of the tallest blocks so far approved in the Quintain regeneration area. As each block goes higher it sets a precedent for future planning applications: what's a couple of extra storeys between friends?

This Independent article from 2015 discusses some of the issues surrounding new highrise developments. LINK 

See also the Skyline Campaign HERE

March 30th: Haringey Against the HDV: The Social. No Permission for Demolition

Haringey Against the Haringey Development Vehicle: 

The Social. No Permission for Demolition

Thu 30 March 2017 19:00 – 23:00 TChances Arts & Music Centre, 399 High Road, N17 6QN

Haringey (Tottenham/Wood Green/Hornsey) is facing the largest attack on Council Housing and public commercial land of anywhere in the UK. This onslaught is opposed by the Labour Party in Haringey,opposed by Unite and GMB, and both MPs have called for a halt. Multiple estates are due to be demolished as the council signs a deal with Australian multinational Lendlease, a known blacklister. We know what happened in Southwark where Lendlease took the stock of council homes from 1,194 to 79.

Under The Cranes. A film by Emma-Louise Williams.

"Using the script of poet Michael Rosen’s documentary play, the film is intercut with rarely seen archive footage, much of which shows the locality’s commitment to social housing. As we hear from the famous – Shakespeare in Shoreditch, Anna Sewell, Anna Barbauld – alongside a Jamaican builder, a Bangladeshi restaurant owner or the Jewish 43 Group taking on Oswald Mosley in Dalston, we see past and present streets, parks, cemeteries and markets."

Q and A with Director Emma-Louise Williams.

Michael Rosen: Comment, questions and poetry from the award winning author Michael Rosen (ps his new book on Emile Zola is excellent).

MC: Ava Vidal: Famed Comedian and star of Mock the Week, Newsnight,Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, Comedy Central's The World Stands Up, Edinburgh and Beyond and C4 reality show Kings of Comedy.

LIVE MUSIC With the superb Franco/Roma singer FLORENCE JOELLE and Band. A Truly excellent performer and a friend of Tottenham, who else could write an ode to the 29 Bus.

Campaign Update: Find out what is going on with the largest assault on Council owned properties in the UK and how we address it. Featuring Veteran Tottenham Activist Stafford Scott and other local activists and what you can do to help.

If you haven't booked you can still pay at the door.

Put the Mayor right on Estate Regeneration March 30th Stonebridge Hub

The invitation below has been issued to Brent residents by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, but his 'Good Practice Guide to Estate Regeneration' has been criticised LINK LINK, not least by the Green Party AM Sian Berry.

INVITATION - HAVE YOUR SAY ON ESTATE REGENERATION

On behalf of the Mayor of London we would like to invite Brent residents to a meeting to discuss the future of estate regeneration in London.

30 March - 6.30pm-7.45pm - Stonebridge Hub, 6 Hillside, NW10 8BN

The Mayor is currently consulting on a draft 'Good Practice Guide to Estate Regeneration' which sets out how estate regeneration projects in London should be run.

The meeting will be an opportunity to hear more about the draft Good Practice Guide and share your views on it. More information about the guide is available on the Greater London Authority's website

All residents in Brent with an interest in estate regeneration are very welcome to attend. If you know of anyone who may be interested in attending the meeting please share this invitation with them.

Please reserve your place and let us know if you plan to attend by:

·  Online - via eventbrite

·  Phone: 0800 612 2182.

·  Email: erguideconsultation@thecampaigncompany.co.uk

For further information and inquiries please call Amy or Pancho on 0800 612 2182 or email erguideconsultation@thecampaigncompany.co.uk

Sian Berry, Green Party Assembly Member for London has criticised the Mayor's guidance on estate regeneration:

The draft guidance gives no reassurance that the Mayor’s pledge to estate residents will be fulfilled. The document is very unclear how, in practical terms, councils and landlords need to act in order to qualify for Greater London Authority (GLA) funding, or to win the Mayor’s support for planning applications. 

Worse, it is almost useless as a resource for residents who want to hold their councils and landlords to account, take part in developing and putting forward positive new ideas to improve their areas or have a meaningful say in whether their homes are demolished. 

It doesn’t define transparency or include any measureable goals – not even one that says it aims to reduce the number of homes demolished as the Mayor has promised.

These failings are so severe that this draft guidance document needs rewriting from scratch. The Mayor’s team should work with estate residents to ensure their homes are protected from demolition, their views are respected and their ideas enabled by the final guidance.

Berry's full response can be found HERE

Local News Matters - meeting tonight in Parliament on local media crisis

Tonight, Tuesday 28 March 2017, NUJ members and politicians will come together to discuss the local news crisis in the UK as part of the union's week of action. The event takes place in committee room 12 in parliament at 18.00.

At the event, the NUJ will be launching new research and analysis of the local media crisis. The research was carried out by Dr Gordon Neil Ramsay, deputy director for the centre for the study of media, communication and power at King's College London. Gordon will present the key findings of his research tonight. The other speakers confirmed include Aasma Day, the investigative reporter and lifestyle editor at the Lancashire Post, professor Robert McChesney, Justin Schlosberg from the Media Reform Coalition and NUJ president Tim Dawson.

The report entitled Mapping changes in local news 2015-2017: more bad news for democracy? includes the following key findings:

·         There was a net loss of 9 UK regional newspapers between November 2015 and March 2017, with 22 titles closing and 13 launching.

·         The number of UK local authority districts with no daily local newspaper coverage rose to 273 (of 406 in total).

·         Five UK local authority districts were reduced to single-publisher monopolies, increasing the number of local monopolies to 170 out of 380 in England, Wales and Scotland. Combining the new research with previous data reveals there are 1,103 local newspaper titles in the UK in March 2017.

·         The five largest publishers – Trinity Mirror (226 titles); Johnston Press (213 titles); Newsquest (211); Tindle (126) and Archant (75) account for 77.1 per cent of all local newspapers in the UK. There has been a net reduction of 2.2 per cent from November 2015 to March 2017.

·         There were 30 instances of job cuts announced over a 17-month period involving the loss of 418 jobs. Newsquest, with 12 announcements affecting 139 jobs, led the way, followed by Trinity Mirror (at least 102 jobs) and Johnston Press (100 jobs). In addition to the job cuts, reorganisations affected a further 83 jobs, and there were six newspaper office closures, with journalists often being moved long distances away from the communities they serve.

·         The BBC deal for 150 new local democracy reporters fails to offset the loss of more than 400 journalists from the largest publishers during the same period. The £8m to be spent annually on this scheme will be taken out of the publicly-funded licence and represents a fraction of the combined operating profits of the largest local publisher.

On Thursday 30 March at 13.30 in parliament, MPs will debate the state of the UK’s local media and an early day motion has been tabled calling for sustainable investment in professional local and regional news provision online, in newspapers and on radio and television.

Séamus Dooley, NUJ acting general secretary, said: “Journalism is a pillar of democracy and this survey should be of major concern to anyone who cares about local, regional or national government. The stark decline in journalism is a direct result of disinvestment in editorial resources. This survey points to a deep crisis in local and regional news provision. There is an urgent need for government and media organisations to halt that decline, to examine ways of developing sustainable media business models operating in the interests of democracy and the public interest. The price of a continuous decline is too high for citizens to pay.”

LATEST: Labour selections for Brent Council elections 2018

Former councillor James Powney failed in his 'come back' selection bid for Harlesden ward last night. Joshua Mitchell Murry, claiming he'd 'put residents first' was selected along with Lloyd McLeish and Mili Patel. Fryent selected Shama Tatler, George Crane and Vincent Lo.

On Tuesday Kensal Green and Barn Hill will select. In Barn Hill it is a formality with Shafique Choudhary, Sarah Marquis and Michael Pavey re-selected without  opposition. Wednesday Update: Matt Kelcher and Jumbo Chan were re-selected in Kensal Green and Claudia Hector won the third position.

Welsh Harp (Amer Agha, Harbi Farah and Roxanne Mashari), Queens Park (James Denselow, Neil Nerva, Ella Southwood) and Tokyngton (Muhammed Butt, Orleen Hylton and Ketan Shah) will all confirm the re-selection of current councillors.

Thursday's meeting in Alperton will confirm the re-selection of James Allie and Bhagwani Chohan with a contest for third place between Nushan Nazemi and Trupti Sangani.

Meanwhile more is emerging about the de-selection of John Duffy in Kilburn which was a surprise to many of the public given his record of robustly challenging the Cabinet and officers.

In an email to Kilburn ward members, following up on an email he sent listing his achievements as a councillor, Duffy said:

Normally I would ignore stupidity like this, but I have had to sit in meetings where the tone has been unacceptable some member calling Hillary Benn “a Fascist”.

At the meetings members often wearing pictures of Jeremy Corbyn these members are normally in their 50’s and 60’s its very odd. If you dare raise the fact working people are turning their backs on the Labour Party they say its not important that the Labour Party win elections. Some times I feel I am at a Moonies convention, without the humour or big wedding at the end.

Like most Labour party members, I am dismayed at our electoral position. So I ignore them and push on trying to deliver socialist answers to problem facing the residents of Kilburn because of the unbalanced Tory austerity attack on hard working families and people who are need support.

These members have apparently decided at Wednesday night selection meeting that local issues and local residents will more or less be ignored and the main issue at the meeting will be about how much you support Jeremy Corbyn.

In an earlier email he accused Momentum members of using the 'pernicious Tory tactic of blacklisting' (regarding Brent Momentum's Facebook listing councillors who supported Owen Smith's leadership bid) and said that his wife would not attend the selection meeting for fear of intimidation.

 A Kilburn Labour Party member reacted with this statement:

This is John Duffy's version of alternative facts. Not a different interpretation of facts, but a "different truth". The idea that members are all in their 50s or 60s, sit around in Corbyn T-shirts and ignore local issues is about as far from the truth as you can get. That and the idea that the main issue at the selection meeting was Corbyn.

The member went on to say that despite Duffy not being at the selection meeting his candidature had been tabled and he did receive some votes. Duffy did not have an automatic right to be short-listed and this had also been the case with Cllr Rita Conneely. He rejected claims that local issues were not discussed citing a recent special meeting on South Kilburn Regeneration and said no one else had noticed an atmosphere of intimidation.

There was a recognition that Duffy had made life difficult for the Council leadership and forced them to retreat on a number of issues but it was also felt that he was not a team player able to work co-operatively with other councillors and campaigners.

Listing councillors who had supported Owen Smith's leadership bid was an attempt to provide political information for Labour Party members to consider when making their selections. In fact most of the councillors named had been re-selected.  It was not comparable to blacklisting by employers to stop militant trade unionists from gaining employment.

The Kilburn member denied that the de-selection of Duffy could be interpreted as a victory for Muhammed Butt and the Labour leadership but instead was about the above issues and a reaction to Duffy's email claims.