Sunday 30 July 2017
Saturday 29 July 2017
Widespread objections to Alperton high rise giant
Guest post by Andrew Linnie. This issue was covered earlier on Wembley Matters LINK
R55’s Minavil House project in Alperton has been the subject
of much debate and controversy for some time now. The tower, standing at 26
storeys, will bring a huge shift in the landscape of the area, and was
described by various industry publications as the tallest building in the
entire borough. This came as quite a surprise to residents both old and new, as
the 2011 Alperton Masterplan adopted by Brent Council set out a vision for the
area of buildings up to a maximum of 17 storeys. It would stand to reason that
a building a full 9 storeys above the maximum height for the area would be a
cause for debate, but Brent Council seemed uninterested in engaging with the
discussion.
The proposal shown towering over twelve storeys above
its nearest neighbour (Submitted application drawings).
At the planning committee meeting in May, I put forward the concerns
of residents in the two minute speaking time allotted to a single objector. It
is of note that the council allows three minutes to the developer to put
forward their case. Those concerns included the loss of light and sky to
surrounding dwellings, the spurious transport impact figures used, and the fact
that the building directly contravened the supporting planning document (SPD)
for the area. These issues were largely disregarded in the ensuing discussion
among councillors and the scheme was approved. None of the three councillors
for Alperton (Cllrs Allie, Chohan and Patel) attended the meeting.
At this point I wrote a petition which over 200 residents
signed, and further problems with the development were noted. In its disregard
for context the project’s density runs off the charts, featuring twice the
number of housing units per hectare of neighbouring schemes. A conversation
with an independent transport assessor involved with another development in the
ward reinforced the assertion that the transport impact figures presented at
the meeting – of just two additional passengers per train at peak times – were
wildly underestimating the impact of a development this size. The issues of
light and sky persisted, and concerns about access and the level of parking
provided remain unanswered (there are 251 homes but only 35 parking spaces,
most of which are for a Lidl on the ground floor). It also emerged that the
architectural justifications for the project’s height from R55’s own online
publication misrepresented the scale of neighbouring buildings and created an
impression of the constructed landscape rising towards the Minavil site which,
in reality, does not exist.
The architectural justification for the project, with
the actual numbers of storeys added. It shows large leaps in height between
buildings only three storeys apart, and a small step up from 14 to 26 storeys.
The image also implies a rising contour between two 11 storey buildings of
equal height (R55).
The petition was addressed to MP for Brent North Barry
Gardiner, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the members of the GLA including our
local assembly member Navin Shah, and the councillors for the ward of Alperton
and Brent in general.
Mr Gardiner held a meeting in the wake of the Grenfell
tragedy in which he addressed the issues of residents in high rise buildings.
Present at the meeting were many locals, representatives of housing trusts, Brent
Borough Fire Commander Mark Davis, and the Head of Planning for Brent. When
pursued by Mr Gardiner on the point of whether such proposals are assessed for
their fire risk, the Head of Planning admitted they are not. For a
disproportionately tall building with a small footprint, on a site hemmed in by
a canal, a bridge and an industrial estate, this added further grave concerns
for neighbouring homes.
Though Mr Shah’s office and Mr Gardiner were responsive to
the petition, the scheme was passed back from the Mayor of London to Brent for
approval with no intervention. Unless the Secretary of State for Planning (Alok
Sharma) decides to intervene, the building work will commence, reportedly in
November. At that point the debate will inevitably turn from one about this
particular site to one about the wider area, and what kind of regeneration the
local population want. When commitments are made to residents to lead a
regeneration area in a certain direction and then entirely forgotten at the
planning committee level, questions must be asked as to whether Brent Council
are representing the interests of local people or the interests of developers.
Labels:
Alok Sharma,
Alperton,
Barry Gardiner,
Brent Council,
developers,
masterplan,
Minavil House.,
R55,
Sadiq Khan
Thursday 27 July 2017
Our rights to safe housing-South Kilburn Meeting tonight
Wednesday 26 July 2017
Breathing London - Brent's Parks and Open Spaces (as you've never seen them before)
Guest post by Philip Grant
I have just heard about the "Breathing London" project organised by the Royal Photographic Society earlier this year, which aimed to capture the diversity of London's public green and open spaces. It produced a website with a large gallery of photographs, which you can visit and search by borough to see pictures of parks and open spaces, large and small, in your area.Link
I have just heard about the "Breathing London" project organised by the Royal Photographic Society earlier this year, which aimed to capture the diversity of London's public green and open spaces. It produced a website with a large gallery of photographs, which you can visit and search by borough to see pictures of parks and open spaces, large and small, in your area.Link
One of the local photographers taking part was Gareth Davies from Kingsbury, who specialises in 360 degree panorama images. He photographed all 92 of the parks and open spaces listed by Brent Council as public spaces which they (or the City of London) maintain in the borough. His fascinating pictures are on the "Breathing London" website, but you can also view them as a slideshow on his own website. Link
There you will find local parks that you did not know existed, and some that you have never visited, but will know that you want to visit now. Why not go and explore some of them (perhaps with your children or grandchildren, in the school holidays) this summer?
Labels:
Breathing London,
Brent Council,
Brent parks,
Gareth Davies,
open spaces,
panaorma,
Philip GRant
Monday 24 July 2017
Strawberries and scones celebrate 80th anniversary of Titus Barham's gift to Wembley
From Friends of Barham Library
Saturday 8 July was the 80th Anniversary since Titus Barham "Wembley's Greatest Benefactor" donated his home and gardens in Sudbury which became Barham Park.
Friends of Barham Library held a Celebration 'Vintage' Tea Party in honour of Titus Barham as a Thank You for his generous gift. As the gift took place in 1937 thirty seven lucky people, whose names were drawn out of a hat, including 6 members of the Barham family, were served a traditional afternoon tea. The Tea Party was held inside the Community Library itself specially decorated for the occasion.
Gaynor Lloyd and Paul Lorber, two Trustees of Friends of Barham Library, and the waitresses dressed up in a traditional 1937 way, to serve and entertain the invited guests.
To make sure that no one missed out the following day Friends of Barham Library opened their doors to their Community Library in Barham Park and served strawberies and traditional scones with cream and jam to around 150 people who came to a picnic in Barham Park and watched a Kino Van showing films of how people lived in the 1930s.
Milk & More, a Muller Company which took over part of the former Express Dairy business, donated the cream, jam and many other items for the Party. All the work putting on the event was carried out by local Volunteers.
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