Strathcona closure decision called in for further scrutiny

The faces of parents, staff and pupils in my photograph above says it all about how they feel about the proposed closure of their much-loved school.

Now there is a little chink of light as a group of Labour councillors have called in the Cabinet's closure decision for further scrutiny.

Cllr Butt addressing a teacher and parent lob by in June

I attended the Cabinet meeting and it was clear that concerns about flaws in the officer's report were not addressed and the Lead Member in responding did no more than read out passages from the report. Cllr Butt's justification of the closure was rambling, incoherent and often irrelevant. LINK

This is an opportunity to move away from mere rubber-stamping and explore the issues involved in depth.

Guest Author Event at Preston Community Library on Tuesday September 17th

'Wembley Park' deny that they intend to install facial recognition cameras but restrict political leafleting

'Wembley Park' Ltd (how did they manage to take over the name of our neighbourhood?), estate managers for the Quintain development have emphatically denied rumours that they intend to install facial recognition on their estate around Wembley Stadium.

In response to an enquiry from Wembley Matters they said:

We do not operate cameras with facial recognition and have no intention of installing them.

This is good news as installation of facial recognition cameras in the Kings Cross development has been extremely contoversial both in terms of their intrusion into privacy but also because of their inaccuracy.

The issue does highlight how much of what was once public space has been privatised and access open to restrictions.

This was brought home to me last weekend when I was part of a Brent Green Party group leafleting for support for the Climate Strike on September 20th. We were giving out postcards about the strike to passersby on the space between Olympic Way and Wembley Library and were  approached by a 'Wembley Park' security guard who asked us for our licence or written permission to leaflet. When we said we had neither he asked us to move out of the area. We could only leaflet on the narrow pavement on Engineers Way. Later when we leafleted on the pedestrianised road (Boulevard) that leads from Engineers Way we were again told to move on.

Not only have they taken over our neighbourhood's name but also our freedom to interact on political matters with local people.

The security notices define what is prohibited on the estate but end with a catch-all statement that gives 'Wembley Park' total control of what happens in the area:

When we queried this with 'Wembley Park' they replied:

Like every well-managed estate, we ask anyone who wants to distribute leaflets in #WembleyPark to approach our estate team for approval and to obtain the appropriate licence from Brent Council.

We responded:

There was a lot of controversy over the Brent Council leafleting licensing scheme. It was agreed the leafleting for political purposes was exempt: https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2012/04/now-its-time-for-james-powney-to.html

Our leafleting was for political purposes as defined by Brent Council. We were encouraging support for the September 20th Climate Action

We believe that leafleting for political purposes is a 'civic freedom' and vital for a healthy democracy. We hope you and Brent Council agree.  https://wembleymatters.blogspot.com/2013/05/petiti

There has been no  further response from 'Wembley Park'.

Discover Roe Green Walled Garden at free Open Day today & learn about volunteering opportunities

The brilliant and hard working Barn Hill Conservation Group have their Open Day at their Roe Green Walled Garden today.

Apart from running the garden the volunteers do invaluable conservation work in Fryent Country Park. They also run other activites in the park. Like any such organisation they can always do with more volunteers. This is an opportunity for you to help preserve a valuable green space, get healthy outdoor exercise without the expense of going to a gymn, and meeting like-minded people.

See the Group's full programme below:

Brent to stand in solidarity with youth climate activists on September 20th - please join in

“This is not a single-generation job. It’s humanity’s job... Let’s all join together, with your neighbours, co-workers, friends, family and go out on to the streets to make your voices heard and make this a turning point in our history.” Greta Thunberg and 46 youth activists from the international school strike movement

Local environmental activists, including Friends of the Earth and Divest Brent; trade unionists, politicians and parents are planning to answer the call from Greta Thunberg and other youth activists  adults to support the global climate youth movement by assembling at Brent Civic Centre at 9.30am on Friday September 20th in a display of support and solidarity. There will be a wide range of speakers united in recognising the urgent need to address the climate emergency.

Brent Council has given permission for staff to join the rally for 30 minutes as long as they seek their manager's permission and there is minimal impact on service provision.
Brent recently adopted a motion declaring a Climate Emergency and is planning to set up a a Citizens' Panel on Climate in October,

Brent National Education Union is urging its members to take creative action on the day:

After the rally many activists and supporters will move on the Central London to join the youth strikers at Mill Bank:

Further information:

UK Student Climate Network

Campaign Against Climate Change

Friends of the Earth

'Change your body; change your mind; change your life' - Author event at Preston Community Library

By Kazuaki Obazaki; numbered limited edition shikishi card print

From Preston Community Library

 

GUEST AUTHOR EVENT AT PRESTON COMMUNITY LIBRARY

Tuesday 17 September 2019 at 7.30pm

Please join us for an evening with Julian Daizan Skinner Roshi, the first Englishman to go to Japan and become a Zen master in the rigorous Rinzai tradition, and artist and meditator Lazz. They will be talking about and reading from their new book, Rough Waking.

Daizan is also the teacher of Samantha Warrington, Preston Community Library's yoga and meditation teacher.

Rough Waking is a project to raise funds for and awareness of people who are homeless or in prison, and to provide them with yoga and meditation, under the motto:

CHANGE YOUR BODY; CHANGE YOUR MIND; CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Prize-winning photographer and meditator, Lazz, uses words and images and an intimate knowledge of homelessness to illustrate his path through brokenness to creativity.

Inspired by Zen Master Shinzan’s joke that Zen life combines prison and homelessness, “Autumn in the monastery and other poems,” by Julian Daizan Skinner depicts pains and joys arising through his three decades in the Zen world.

Zen artist Kazuaki Okazaki who, after 18 years incarceration on death row was executed last summer, contributes a sequence of images depicting a spiritual journey from lostness and wandering, through the intense confinement of Zen training, and then onwards into a new homelessness – a vastly expanded realm of liberation and service.

The whole book underscores the Zen emphasis on direct confrontation with reality and how for all of us that alone leads to liberation

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Capitalism cannot solve the Climate Crisis - John McDonnell & others address the issues

John McDonnell MP

 Cllr Roxanne Mashari

Many thanks to Peter Murry of Brent Green Party who filmed the meeting for Brent FoE and Brent Trades Council

Friends of the Earth is a non-party political campaign but in the current febrile atmosphere with expectations of a General Election in the Autumn it was perhaps inevitable that a bit of party politics entered last night's meeting on Green Jobs which was addressed by John McDonnell MP. The meeting was co-organised bt Brent FoE and Brent Trades Council.

In fact a consensus emerged about what was required to enable a transition to a zero carbon economy with much much shared by eco-socialists in the Labour Party, the Green Party and those affiliated to no party.

Perhaps the main point of agreement was that capitalism, based as it is on exploiting finite natural and material resources for profit, cannot solve the climate crisis. We should look to a different economic system to meet the climate emergency and transform society so that lives are actually better whilst not destroying the planet. The Green New Deal is a starting point for such a transformation based as it is on a just transition to a zero carbon economy and environmentally sustainable and socially useful production.

Aaron Kiely of Friends of the Earth

Northwick Park: How your community garden has grown!

I popped into Northwick Park Community Garden last sunny Sunday to see how it was progressing and was truly impressed. This great community project, using permaculture principles to produce an environmentally friendly edible garden ,is supported by many volunteers and is a great tribute to the local people - growing community as well as plants!

To visit alight from Northwick Park tube and leave via Westminstre University/Hospital exit and turn  sharp left and follow the wildflower meadow to the corner of the park.