Brent Green's Shaka Lish speak on 'War and the Environment' Monday September 10th

Brent Event Day Parking Enforcement from 8am for a match that starts at 7.45pm today!

Paul Lorber has returned to the issue of Event Day parking restrictions affecting local residents and community activities as restrictions are put in place today for the England vs Spain match.

The notice says that enforcement will run from 8am today until midnight on main roads and between 10am and midnight in residential areas.

The match does not start until 7.45pm.

In an email to Carolyn Downs, Brent Council's Chief Executive, Lorber says:

As someone who helps to run a Community Library in the Wembley area which serves local people - many of whom are disabled and elderly - I find the tone of these emails unacceptable.

The notification does not state the time the soccer match will start and does not make it clear when enforcement against normal parking will be carried out.

This is important as at a public meeting in 2017 the current Leader reassured Wembley residents that enforcement does not start until 2 hours before the start of the event and ends 2 hours after the event finishes.

He did so in response to anger from residents against the Brent Council for allowing growing disruption to their lives by all day parking restrictions/enforcement while allowing a growing number of events at Wembley.

In view of this any tickets issued on easy event for simple parking infringement within the window specified by the Leader of Council should be cancelled. 

Even more importantly the Council should now clarify its Event Day enforcement policy and advise residents clearly and openly.

In addition, as raised in my earlier email to you, the policy of dispensation (granting of parking permits on event days) for local community groups should be reviewed so that they are treated as religious venues so that they too can go about their normal business of serving local people.

I would appreciate your early reply and confirmation that these issues will now be addressed in the interests of and for the benefit of local people.

See Henry V at Barham Community Library

Barham Library gets in early for Brent Borough of Culture 2020!

In addition to the October 6th presentation there will also be another on October 1st at 7.30pm.

Information and tickets: barhamlibrary@hotmail.co.uk

Why has Brent Council failed to protect the iconic view of Wembley Stadium?

'...The council will therefore protect a range of short, middle and long distance views of the National Stadium.' 2015

2018

 I reproduce below Philip Grant's recent letter to the Kilburn Times LINK

Your article “Wembley Arch Vanishing?” (23 August) LINK makes a very important point about Brent Council’s lack of compliance with its own planning policies.

In January 2015, a meeting of Brent’s Full Council adopted the Wembley Area Action Plan, drawn up after public consultation, to be part of the policies which were supposed to be applied in deciding whether planning applications should be accepted. The action plan included a section on “Protection of Stadium Views”, with policy statements such as:

‘Views of the Stadium contribute a significant amount to the perception of Wembley as a whole, performing a range of functions that add a layer of depth to the visual experience of the area.’ and
’The council will therefore protect a range of short, middle and long distance views of the National Stadium.’

In the related section of the action plan on “Protecting the Special Character of Olympic Way”, the protection to be given was spelled out with further policy statements, including:

‘In line with policies WEM5 and WEM6, proposals for tall buildings must demonstrate that they have no adverse visual impacts on views of the stadium from Olympic Way.’ and (in policy WEM7)
’Proposed Development on Olympic Way must be carefully designed and scaled to respect the predominance of Wembley Stadium and its arch.’

Picture 4.39 (above) is an illustration from the 2015 action plan, showing the main view that these policies were supposed to protect. Unfortunately, the reality of what has been allowed to happen can be seen in a photograph which I took, from the same spot, in July 2018. 

Brent has allowed many “minor” bites to be taken out of the view, by approving successive planning applications for tall buildings along Olympic Way over recent years, and there are more to come.

In June 2018, a report to Planning Committee, which approved changes to the plan for a tall block next to the Civic Centre, mentioned some of the earlier concessions made:

‘The top of the new tall building would obscure an additional small part of the stadium arch ....’ and
’Whilst the current proposals would slightly reduce the amount of the arch that is visible at present, this is not significantly more than the degree to which the Barratt and Unite housing schemes on the eastern side of Olympic Way infringe on the view of the arch from Olympic Way ....’

In July 2018, when recommending approval for a development by Network Homes of up to 21 stories, the planners said:

‘...  it is considered that the small reduction in the visibility of the eastern part of the arch is an acceptable consequence of this development and it is noted that the western part of the arch is already obscured to broadly the same extent, helping to bring symmetry to the view of the Stadium along the Olympic Way corridor.’ 


Brent Council should explain why it has allowed its own planning rules to be broken by its planners and Planning Committee, and why it has failed to protect the iconic view of Wembley Stadium, despite its promise to do so.

Philip Grant

The future of children's play facilities in Quintain's Wembley development

There have been rumours circulating about the loss of a 'park' in Wembley. Some said that flats were to be built on Chalkhill Park which has only been open for a few years.

On investigation I realised that it was the children's playground opposite the London Designer Outlet where the building of flats was to take place. The playground has been very popular with local parents as a source of relief and relaxation when shopping with young children. It was always envisaged as a 'meanwhile' facility, meaning it occupies the site temporarily prior to development.

It is to be hope that the fact that it is valued as a community asset and one where parents and children representing a cross-section of Brent's diverse population can mix freely will encourage Brent Council and Quintain to consider alternative provision.

Amar Dave, Brent Council's Strategic Director for Regeneration and Environment told Wembley Matters:

In 2014 Quintain proposed the provision of the children’s play area together with some other public realm improvements as a “meantime” use of the land before it comes forward for development (through the existing outline consent) in the future.  The reference number for that application is 14/1089 [ LINK ]. 

Play and recreational facilities had been secured in other consents but hadn’t come forward yet.  Some have now been delivered (the smaller play area in the park to the north of the Civic Centre) and others are to be delivered later. 

We were very supportive of the provision of the play area as an interim use of the site – much better than keeping it hoarded up until the development comes forward. 

In terms of future provision other play areas are to be provided.  The Southern part of the new larger park (towards the eastern end of Engineers Way) includes a play are of commensurate size to the existing play area.  It also includes a Multi-Use-Games Area.   

When the plot within which the meantime playground is developed, a smaller play area will be incorporated in this location.

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UPDATE: ESFA visit Woodfield School on compliance matters

I understand that the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) LINK have visited Woodfield School, Kingsbury, an academy, to investigate compliance issues.  This follows a request by the National Education Union (NEU) in May  asking Secretary of State Damian Hinds and Brent Council for an investigation by a relevant financial watchdog.

The investigation is thought to have centred on allegations regarding a consultant being paid almost £240,000 over 2 years* for around 8 days work a month. Shortly before taking up the post it is claimed he had been a trustee overseeing financial decisions by the academy. LINK

There was a long dispute between staff at the Village School and its governing body over plans to form a Mult Academy Trust with Woodfield School.

The publishing of a report by the ESFA on their investigation is awaited with great interest. I am told that neither the NEU nor staff have as yet seen evidence that the MAT has actually been approved.

*Corrected from initial version which stated one year. Apologies for wrong information.

UPDATE Friday September 7th
Usually well-informed sources say that the EFSA arrived at Woodfield today giving the school 5 days to response before the Agency decides whether to serve a financial notice to improve.

Screening of 'A Plastic Ocean' by Brent FOE September 11th

From Brent Friends of the Earth

Tuesday 11^th September 2018; 7:30pm

Plastic Ocean Screening

All welcome

Meeting room, Watling Gardens Estate 

97 - 135 Shoot-Up Hill, London NW2 3UB 

The meeting room is near the playground which can be seen from the street. Disabled access is via the back door ramp. See here for more info on the venue and how to find it.

Elizabeth line delay impact on proposed bus service changes

Transport for London are discussing the impact of the Elizabth line delay on proposed changes in local bus services. The preliminary date for the controversial curtailment of the 223 bus route at Northwick Park was the end of 2019.

Geoff Hobbs, Director of Public Transport Service Planning at TfL, said:

Last year we consulted on changing buses near the Elizabeth line to reflect how demand for buses in London has changed and will change in the future. Now that Crossrail Ltd has confirmed that the Elizabeth line will launch next autumn we’re now reviewing the timing of these changes to ensure they are as beneficial as possible.