WINDRUSH DAY EVENT: Double bill screening + Q&A with artists: Charlie Phillips and Carl Gabriel June 22nd 7pm

From Preston Community Library

Come and join us in celebrating the monumental contributions that the Windrush Generation has made to the cultural landscape of Britain.

We will be screening two short documentary films: Rootical, featuring the Jamaican-born restaurateur, photographer, and documenter of black London, Charlie Phillips, followed by The Mas Man with a Magical Touch, featuring the Trinidad-born photographer and wire-form sculptor, Carl Gabriel.

After spending his early childhood with his grandparents, Charlie Phillips joined his parents in London, in 1956. Working in his parents’ restaurant, Charlie began his photographic career by accident when, while still very young, he was given a Kodak Brownie by a black American serviceman. He taught himself to use it and began to photograph life in Notting Hill, making prints in the family bathroom after his parents would retire to bed.

Phillips is now best known for his photographs of Notting Hill during the period of West Indian migration to London, but his subjects also include film stars and student protests.

Coming to London in 1964, Carl worked as a specialist sheet metal worker and was trained in photography and moved into a career in this profession. He was also a pan player for the Ebony Steel Band and has since become a Carnival Artist, specialising in wire-form sculptures that have been presented at large scale festivals globally. His work has also extended to sculptures that have been exhibited at Durham Cathedral and the British Library.

Many of Preston Community Library's members will already be familiar with Carl Gabriel's work through his generous loan to us of two vibrant sculptures in our sunken garden, as well as his specially commissioned sculpture Inspiration for Brent Borough of Cultures 2020.

This event is brought to you by PCL in collaboration with Black History Studies, and will be hosted by Charmaine Simpson, chairing a Q&A with these two iconic artists.

Venue: Your own home via a Zoom Link, which will be emailed to you on receipt of your FREE TICKET reservation.

Both artists are multi-disciplined in their approach to their practice and the conversation promises to range far and wide.

Unique coalition of 11 residents' groups call on Brent Scrutiny Committee to investigate Brent Council's policy on asphalting of pavements

 

Today BRAAP - Brent Residents Against Asphalt Pavements - have released their scoping paper  LINK reporting the shortcomings of Brent Council’s 2016 Policy to replace the paving slabs on the borough’s pavements with asphalt (tarmac).  BRAAP has sent the paper to Cllr Roxanne Mashari, Chair of Brent Scrutiny Committee for Resources and the Public Realm, asking them to carry out an investigation of the processes that lead to the policy along, with its implementation and to recommend an approach which takes account of residents’ input LINK.

 

BRAAP is a new, unique and unprecedented alliance of residents’ associations and street groups from across Brent who have got together to campaign to reverse the Council’s policy of asphalting at all costs.

 

 

MAIN POINTS

•  Brent’s 2016 Policy was introduced using hard to understand and unconvincing financial arguments.

•  A lack of transparency on the long-term running costs of asphalt vs re-laying paving slabs.

•  Over 95% of petitioned residents objected to the asphalting of pavements and the resulting reduction of the quality of the urban environment.

•  A lack of meaningful consultation with residents and residents’ associations, either on the general policy or individual schemes.

•  Hurriedly arranged ‘special’ meetings with worried residents, Councillors, Officers and the Leader, where Brent claim surprise at the level of opposition, but repeat the same arguments and asphalt anyway.

•  No clear tally showing how many slabs are re-usable.  Residents estimate up to 80% could be re-laid.

•  Shockingly, when the slabs are removed they are not re-used, but pulverized according to contractors.

•  A lack of transparency about the environmental impact assessment around air quality when using diesel trucks to transport 1000s of tons of slabs to be pulverised, and more trucks to bring asphalt into the borough.

•  Roads that were asphalted in 2016, eg Chandos Road, have already degraded whereas paving done at the time looks as good as new.

•  The policy goes against the direction we should be travelling in this time of climate emergency.  

* By default it is obvious that simple levelling of the slabs by workmen with hand tools will have a marginal carbon footprint compared with the use of new asphalt with its high embodied carbon and diesel intensive processes for lorries and plant.

 

Robin Sharp, Joint Convenor of BRAAP, said:

 

This is a unique coming together of 11 residents’ groups and associations in Brent objecting to replacing long-lasting paving slabs with cheap impermeable tarmac, which heaves and cracks,  grows moss and looks awful when repaired, radiates heat into the urban environment and is opposed by over 95% of residents.  The council should be working with residents’ and council tax payers’ interests in mind.  They say the policy is cost-driven, but they should be planning for the long term, with sustainability at the fore.  This policy is not fit for purpose.

BRAAP provided the following background information to Wembley Matters:

 
Black radiates more heat than lighter colours.  Urban heating is a global problem and wherever there are heat reduction programmes, the first thing they do is get out the reflective white paint: the New York City Cool Roofs Programme “cooled and coated” 2,077,537 square feet of rooftop.  In Greek villages they paint the houses white.  It’s for a reason. 

 

Brent has not disclosed an Environmental Impact Assessment to say how many diesel miles will be used disposing of re-usable paving slabs and importing asphalt into the borough.  This doesn’t sit well with their Climate Strategy for carbon neutrality. 

 

Water run-off increases flood risk to our drains and is why the Council has strict planning regulations for residents putting in front drives or hard standings - they have to install 50% soft landscaping as well as a soak away to stop water running into the highway, but the Council is getting away with laying mile upon mile of impermeable asphalt.  It is universally known that paving slabs allow water penetration through the gaps when they are laid on a sand substrate.   We have asked Brent for the Environmental Impact Assessment relating to Sustainable Drainage Systems where impermeable surfaces are concerned.

 

BRAAP Member groups:

 

Aylestone Park Residents’ and Tenants’ Association

Barn Hill Residents’ Association

Brondesbury Road Group

Chandos Road Group

Clifford Gardens Group

Kensal Rise Residents’ Association

Kensal Triangle Residents’ Association

Kilburn Village Residents’ Association

Mapesbury Pavements Action Group

Queens Park Area Residents’ Association

Willesden Green Residents’ Association

 

Fryent Way – from A to Bee

 Guest Post by Philip Grant

Fryent Way is part of the busy A4140 main road, between Kingsbury Circle and the Salmon Street roundabout. But it has also become a route of a different kind.

 

When first conceived in the 1920s, it was known as Kingsbury Urban District Council’s Town Planning Road No.17. It was constructed in 1934/35, to open up farm land that All Souls College, Oxford, planned to sell for housing development. You can read more about this in Part 4 of The Fryent Country Park Story.

 

When, several years ago, Brent Council announced that they would stop cutting the grass in parts of our local parks, to create “wild flower meadows”, I admit that I was sceptical. It sounded like putting a positive “spin” on a decision to cut spending on the upkeep of our public open spaces!

 

 

But walking home from an appointment at my GP surgery on Thursday, I could see and enjoy the results. The grass verges alongside Fryent Way are now a bee and butterfly corridor, that encourages the wonderfully diverse wildlife from Fryent Country Park to travel into the heart of Kingsbury. 

 

Philip Grant.

St Raphael's Community raises doubts over Brent Council's demolition and rebuild plans

 St Raphs campaigners have raised doubts about whether Brent Council will be able to go ahead with the option to demolish and rebuild the estate following a GLA announcement.

The Newsletter is reproduced below. Click bottom right square to enlarge.

Secretary of State refers Wembley Park Station car park tower block development to Planning Inspectorate

The Communities Secretary, Robert Jenrick MP, has called-in the controversial Wembley Park station car park development which means he will make the decision on whether it goes ahead rather than Brent Council whose Planning Committee approved the development.

The application will be considered by the Planning Inspectorate at a public inquiry, with recommendations then going to the Minister to decide the outcome.

In a letter to Bob Blackman MP, the Planning Inspectorate said:

The Inspector instructed by the Secretary of State is T Gilbert-Wooldridge MRTPI IHBC and the inquiry will open at 10.00am on 28 September 2021. We have currently scheduled 6 sitting days (provisionally 28 Sept – 1 Oct and 4-5 October).

The Planning Casework Unit cannot forward any correspondence that was submitted to them before this case was called in. Therefore, if there are any matters which you wish to put before the Inspector, you can write to me at this address or email (leanne.palmer@planninginspectorate.gov.uk) quoting reference APP/T5150/ V/21/3275339.

You can also use the Internet to submit documents, to see information and to check the progress of cases through GOV.UK. The address of the search page is https:// acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/

Please submit any representations by 8 July.

The date by when the application will be decided will be published at the time the report is submitted to the Secretary of State.

At the Planning Committee only Cllr Michael Maurice voted against the application and Cllr Kansagra, leader of the Conservative Group said that the Council had been bribed by the developer with flats. (FULL REPORT)

Philip Grant, a regular contributor to this blog, presented a forensic analysis to the Committe based on the Council's own existing Tall Buildings policy which limited developments on the site to 10 storeys. It breached policy that had been made as a result of public consultation.  He concluded:

Committee members, please don’t allow yourselves to be fooled into accepting an application which doesn’t comply with the policies adopted by Brent Council, after consultation with its residents.

This application is a flagrant breach of those policies, and you can, and should, refuse it on those grounds. 

Philip's presentation followed a Guest Post he had written for Wembley Matters the day before the Planning Committee setting out his case in detail.  LINK

Regardless of party politics the Inquiry represents a second chance to stop over-development of the site as well as possibly putting a stop to officer's increasing propensity to make excuses for developers' failure to adhere to the Council's own planning policies and guidelines.

Philip Grant adds this comment:

AMENITY SPACE -

Although my main objection to this planning application was over its breach of Brent's tall buildings policies, there were a number of other failures to comply with planning policies.

When I had a look at the webpage for this application (20/0967) today, I found that although Planning Committee approved it last November, Brent has not yet issued a consent letter, so the application is still "undecided" (although with no mention that the Planning Inspectorate is now involved).

The other interesting thing I noticed was that an extra document had appeared in February 2021, described as a "Post Committee Delegated Report". It's main subject was 'Amenity Space Provision'.

It appears that Brent's Amenity Space policy DMP19 had been the subject of a Judicial Review, and this had found that Brent's planning officers had not been interpreting their own policy correctly! 'The JR judgement has clarified that all 3bed or larger units should be assessed against the 50sqm 
standard.' 

When planning officers had assessed the amenity space required for the 451 homes in the five tower blocks proposed at the Brook Avenue site, they had used 20 square metres as the standard requirement for the larger flats.

This meant that the cumulative private amenity space shortfall for the development was actually 7,498.9sqm, rather than the 6,178.9sqm reported to the Planning Committee meeting. 

[To give an idea of what these figures mean, the standard professional football pitch has an area of 7,140 square metres - so the residents together would be "robbed" of more than a football pitch in size of private amenity space, if the proposals are approved.]

Did the new information make any difference? This is what the planning officers' delegated report concluded:

'it is considered that the scheme would still be acceptable in planning terms, notwithstanding the shortfall against Policy DMP19 as the external amenity space provision remains to be of sufficient size and type to satisfy the proposed residents’ needs. The amount and type of external amenity space proposed was clearly expressed to members, and it is considered that members would not have come to a different view on the proposal had the greater shortfall been reported.'  

 

 

Update from WE OWN IT on fight against Centene's takeover of GP surgeries

 

Last week you took action to pressure North West London local health authorities to kick Centene, the profit-greedy US multinational, out of our GPs.  There's no two ways about it, the decision NW London local health leaders ended up making was a mixed bag. They decided to renew Centene’s contract - BUT with a BIG catch. Instead of renewing it for 5 years, as originally suggested by local health officers, they decided to renew it for JUST 2 years.  And they are placing Centene under much stricter patient feedback conditions. So if after the two years patients say that Centene has done a bad job, local leaders will have no excuse to keep them on. This result represents slow but good progress in the fight against private corporations in our GP practices. And this outcome was down to the incredible work you did writing to local health leaders, joining protests, taking action on social media, etc. It is not exactly the win you were going for. But we could never have got this if you had not taken action. You wanted Centene kicked out completely and things are now headed in that direction.  It is time to double down and push harder since it's clear that the pressure you’re applying is being felt. Just to recap some of the amazing work you've been part of, which made this result possible: Thousands of people across the country took action or joined protests on the 22nd of April in our “Get Centene Out” day of action. 24,896 emails were sent to local health leaders to show them the depth of public opposition to Centene. Over 700 people from across the country sent short personal messages to health leaders in North West London in less than 24hrs.  55,721 people have signed the online petition against Centene and many more have signed physical petitions at protests. Almost 200 London councillors from all main parties (including a few Conservatives) have signed our local leaders open letter against Centene. 15,540 people emailed and asked their MP to oppose Centene. 76 MPs from right across the country and from all parties except the Conservatives have now supported the motion in parliament. We are helping Labour’s frontbench primary care team brief MPs about the dangers of companies like Centene running our GP practices.   These and many more actions have forced health authorities to look more critically at Centene. But you need to keep going.   You are already forcing them to take your voice into account in their decisions. This is not the time to let them off the hook. We are planning actions to be announced soon. Local health leaders in areas with Centene GPs need to continue to feel the pressure.  In the meantime, please sign the petition and share it if you have already signed. Thank you so much for the great work that you have done and are still doing. The progress we’ve made would not be possible without you. Cat, Pascale, alice, Chris, Zana and Johnbosco - the We Own it team

'Blooming marvellous' gifts for Wembley Central & Alperton residents

 

Sorting the plants

From WCRA 

Wembley Central and Alperton Residents’ Association’s  'Blossom' initiative began during the first Covid19 lockdown in April 2020 when they were able to gift bedding plants to isolating residents in Wembley Central and Alperton.    

 

More than 6,800 plants were distributed, the idea supported by local residents, the Alperton Community Group and a number of local businesses in Wembley. 

  

In 2021 WCARA have hugely increased their efforts, securing more donations from even more local businesses, organisations and residents, they ordered over 12,000 plants which WCARA members and volunteers sorted, packed into bags and delivered to homes in Wembley Central and Alperton.

The aim of 'Blossom' is purely to bring a smile and happiness to residents in the local area, especially as the past year been so hard for many in the Wembley Central and Alperton communities.      WCARA hope this gift of plants will bring solace and help neighbours as life gets back to normal - whether you have a tiny balcony, small garden or even a larger plot it's great to green up your environment and encourage nature, as we all know gardens have been so important for our health in recent times.

WCARA would like to thank all their supporters and sponsors who have helped to make 'Blossom' possible so far - it's great to see such support for our local community.

 

Covid-19: Enhanced testing in Willesden, Donnington Court

From Brent Council 

 

Covid-19: Enhanced testing in Willesden, Donnington Court

Public Health England has found a case of the South African Covid-19 variant in Willesden.

To see if it has spread in the community and to help contain the virus, everyone aged 16 and over who lives or works in Donnington Court NW10 3TJ is being asked to get tested, even if they are not showing symptoms.

If you live or work within the enhanced testing area, do the right thing and get tested to protect your family, friends and community. 

The more cases of the variant we find, the better chance we have at stopping the spread.

You must get tested at one of the following testing sites. The site you go to will depend on whether you have symptoms or not.

If you don’t have symptoms

• The Library at Willesden Green - 95 High Rd, Willesden, London, NW10 2SF Opening hours: 9am-6pm, Monday to Sunday. 
  Book an appointment if you don't have symptoms.

If you have symptoms

• Harlesden Local Testing Site, Harlesden Town Garden, Challenge Close, Harlesden, NW10 4BF. Opening hours: 8am-8pm, Monday to Sunday. 
  Book an appointment if you do have symptoms.

Key questions on enhanced testing

Why am I being asked to get tested?

A case of the South African Covid-19 variant has been found in Willesden. We want to find out if it’s been spreading in the local area and if so, to contain it by asking all those affected and their recent contacts to self-isolate.

It’s important that you get tested, even if you feel fine, as 1 in 3 people with Covid-19 show no symptoms but could be spreading the virus with loved ones and around the community without knowing.

How does it work?

1. If you’re aged 16 or over, book a test at the right testing site depending on whether you’ve got symptoms or not
   
   
2. Come alone if you can, although if you’re 16 or 17 you’ll need to bring a parent or guardian with you – and don’t forget your face covering!
   
   
3. When at the site, you’ll need to take a swab of your throat and nose – it’s quick and painless
   
   
4. That’s it. Leave the testing site, staff will clean the booth and send your test off to the lab
   
   
5. If your test is positive, it’ll be checked to see what strain of the virus you’ve been infected with. Don’t worry, there’s currently no evidence the South African variant will make you more unwell but you will need to self-isolate for 10 days so you don’t spread it – anyone you live with will need to self-isolate too.
   
   
6. If you test negative, that’s great! But you must continue to follow the rules and remember, you can get free and regular rapid Covid-19 tests any time,visit our webpage to find out more.