WEMBLEY MATTERS News and views on local politics, the environment, climate change, culture and local history
Philip Grant has sent this update to his earlier article LINK on the Fryent Way wild-flower planting. Although the verges may be looking less pretty, and more overgrown, they are still providing plenty of good habitat alongside a busy road.
Lush vegetation on Fryent Way opposite Wyndale Avenure
Fryent Way bee corridor at Broadview
Cycling alongside the bee corridor
The chairs of both Brent Scrutiny Committee have welcomed the Football Associations decision to set up an independently review of events at the July 11th Euro2020 Final at Wembley Stadium,
Cllr Roxanne Mashari, chair of the Resources and Public Health Scrutiny Committee, tweeted:
Promising to see the FA announce an independently chaired review of security breaches at Wembley Stadium. Essential that this review includes Brent Council who have yet to commit to reviewing their own actions and producing a report on lessons learned.
Cllr Ketan Sheth, chair of the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee also tweeted:
Good to see Baroness Casey will lead the Football Association review of security breaches with depth, integrity to ensure the facts and the circumstances are reported, understood and are 'never able to be repeated'.
I was expecting the Brent Council Cabinet today to receive and discuss the recommendation from the Scrutiny Committee that they set up an independent review of events on the Euro2020 Final at Wembley Stadium on July 11th.
It was not included on the Agenda itself or under Other Urgent Business and the incidents were not referred to by Council Leader Muhammed Butt, who chairs the Cabinet.
This means it will not be discussed until the next Cabinet meeting on August 16th. One would think that riotous and potentially dangerous behavour threatening residents safety and wellbeing would merit some attention from the local council, partially responsible for overseeing the event, when UEFA, Metropolitan Police and now the FA have all reacted.
The Allied Irish Bank site (by the bus) and St George Hotel
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Linden Avenue from Wembley Hill Road - an additional storey will be added to St George Hotel on left
Traditional 2 storey house on Linden Avenue already dwarfed by the hotel before a storey is added
There are no huge Wembley Park developments on the agenda for Wednesday's Planning Committee but this one for the ex-Allied Irish Bank building and the St George Hotel sums up some of the issues facing long-standing local residents, too readily dismissed as NIMBYs, when the Wembley Park development begins to spill over into their streets and overshadow their traditional 2 storey dwellings. Gradually new developments appear to be creeping up Wembley Hill from Wembley Hill Road.
The proposal adds a floor to the St George Hotel and demolishes the Allied Irish Bank building to make way for an hotel extension and a two storey basement.
In this case planners cite the Wembley Growth Area to justify the impact on the residents (my emphasis) :
Overall given urban context of the area and dense nature of development in the area the proposed development would allow for an appropriate relationship with the neighbouring properties within the vicinity of the application site. The NPPF outlines that local authorities should take a positive approach to applications for alternative uses which is currently developed but not allocated for a specific purpose and applications for alternative uses on the land should be supported, where the proposed use would contribute to meeting an unmet need for development in the area. There is some expectation for the development not to fully comply with the daylight and sunlight guidance given that the site is located within the Wembley Growth Area whereby additional height is expected when considering the surrounding context of traditional two storey dwellings to the west of the site.
The additional storey above Crown House would increase the degree of impact on the amenities of the occupants of No. 1 Linden Avenue beyond that envisaged within SPD 1when viewed from their rear garden in terms of overbearing appearance and sense of enclosure. However, the impact must be balanced against the benefits of the scheme. The proposal would contribute towards providing visitor facilities within the Growth Area meeting the objectives of both local and regional policy.
There are only 5 comments on the proposal (all Object) and three of those, unsurpisingly, come from 1 Linden Avenue. When you read the comments, as for other applications, it is as if the planners and residents occupy two different universes: This is one set of comments:
The demolition of the existing building will cause serious health and safety issues for the local residents, neighbours and my family, as being an old building the amount of dust and pollution can be detrimental effect on health of my elderly retired parents and their grandchildren (who they babysit). Also being an old building I would like to see the asbestos reports and require assurances that if present it will be disposed of according to Health & Safety laws. The time and duration of the demolition will be on-going for a substantial period of time and also will create unnecessary noise thought out the day. Another note is that I am worried about the vibrations from the work being carried out.
With regards to the proposed building the block will overlook our property and with the amount of new levels this will invade our privacy even more than it is already, as it will be able to look onto the back of the house and will certainly impact on the peaceful enjoyment of our home and garden and the building will be visually overbearing. It is an inappropriate design for this part of the road and such a large building would be totally out of keeping with the neighbouring properties.
Parking restriction are already in affect and the limit of spaces is already scarce since the hotel has been using residence bays for their patrons. Currently, the terrace road is already busy and congested so bigger building would mean will be a problem both at night and day.
Please note that I have received this information late, and speaking to other residence they have not even seen any literature for every household that will have an impact by this development. Therefore, I am concerned that not all objections will be aired in time.
Finally, I would just like to add that since the adjacent hotel hs been a hinderance since it has been built, talking to local residence there has been a number of complaints to the council for antisocial and noise pollition in exisiting building thus if owners care little about local residence, they would care even less when this building goes up.
Attending Planning Committee I see time and time again residents' concerns brushed aside and non-compliance with planning guidelines justified for the sake of these 'balances' that officers' cite.
It is interesting that recently objections have not just come from pensioners occupying some of the older properties but from new residents such as those at Shams Court and those in the new tower blocks who find that there are plans for additional blocks wedged between the existing ones depriving them of light and space. Perhaps alliances can be built?
By the way I better mention a condition attached to the recommended consent. The number of rooms in the hotel will be increased by 63 to a total of 112. Officers are concerned about coaches dropping off customers at the hotel on a busy road and narrow one-way side streets so are calling for a 'coach management strategy.' How practical the proposed arrangem nts are remains to be seen.
The site would not have capacity to accommodate any coach parking. Therefore, any potential coach parties arriving to the site would be required to use other coach parking areas (e.g. those associated with the Stadium) to load and unload guests. A coach management strategy has been required through a S106 planning obligation to ensure the management of coaches arriving on site is conducted appropriately to avoid coaches arriving at the site itself. This would look to contain agreement for nearby car parks such as Wembley Park before coach bookings can be accepted. The applicant would therefore provide a shuttle bus service that would pick up and drop off guests from the relevant coach park. These arrangements would also be secured as part of the coach management strategy.
Brent Council Announcement:
As of today, most COVID-19 legal restrictions will be lifted and it will be up to individuals to assess the risks and act accordingly. However in light of rising COVID case numbers in Brent and for the safety of both our staff and community, we will continue to take precautions in our public buildings.
We ask that you continue to wear a face covering in all public spaces in Brent including libraries, the gallery and museum, as will our staff. We will be leaving sanitisation stations in place and ask you to continue to scan the Test and Trace QR code on entering our buildings.
Library opening hours
We are extending opening hours at Wembley and Willesden Green libraries from today – Monday 19th July – so they will now be open until 8pm on weekdays. We will also slowly be beginning to reintroduce our full range of services over the next few weeks and months.
We also ask that you continue to book PCs and study spaces in advance of your visit and respect others space when browsing.
We look forward to continuing to welcome you back to all our sites
and will also be continuing virtual events. Thank you all in advance for
helping us all keep safe and look after one another.
Cllr Southwood speaking on the development proposals for Watling Gardens, Windmill Court and Kilburn Square at this morning's Cabinet said that she was aware of Kilburn Square residents' concerns. Some of these would be dealt with at the Planning Committee stage but she recognised that Covid restrictions had meant that the Council had not been able to engage with residents as much as they would lik,e so consultation would be extended over the summer. She emphasised that no final decisions would be made and she would come back to Cabinet when team had heard from 'more people, in greater depth.' She said that the main point of the agenda items was to put the necessary legal requirements in place.
She said that they were working to improve the stability of the Tenant Management Organisation and finding ways to working towards a constructive environment in which the inevitable concerns could be addressed.
Brent Council will be asked to approve an approach to 'in-fill' plans for Watling Gardens, Windmill Court and Kilburn Square this morning:
To delegate authority for the Strategic Director Community Wellbeing to make an application to seek the Secretary of State’s consent under section 19 of the Housing Act 1985 to appropriate any part of Watling Gardens, Windmill Court or Kilburn Square including any part consisting of a house or part of a house so that parts of these sites are no longer held for the purposes of Part ll of the Housing Act 1985.
The estates are part of the Council's scheme to increase the number of Council homes by demolishing 59 properties at Watling Gardens and Windmill Court and the appropriation of council owned land for housing. 125 additional homes are planned for Watling Gardens, 60 for Windmill Court and 178 for Kilburn Square.
The Officers' report states that the demolition of 59 homes is not sufficient to trigger a residents' ballot under London Mayoral powers.
Compulsory purchase will only be used if negotiations with leaseholders over their loss of rights fail, the report states.
Regarding Council tenants the report says:
The project team will be basing early engagement offers of alternative accommodation and decant options for secure residents on the current Allocation Policy and the statutory consultation required in connection with the use of Ground 10A of the Housing Act 1985 4
The current Allocation Policy will apply to secure residents to be decanted from 1-11 Watling Gardens, 1-30 Claire Court and 1-18 Windmill Court. Under the current allocation policy secure residents affected by the infill developments will be placed into Band A on a phased basis to bid for an alternative home. Early engagement with residents and leaseholders has started with a view to obtain vacant possession of the required blocks as soon as possible
The report justifies the choice of Watling and Windmill:
Watling Gardens and Windmill Court were chosen due to the relatively low density of housing on the sites compared to modern developments in London and the fact that the land is wholly owned by the Council and thus avoids land acquisition costs. Furthermore the development provides the opportunity to carry out extensive long term soft and hard landscape improvement works. The infill programme on each of the sites will deliver new play facilities, activity areas, revised parking arrangements, improvements to a community hall, improved environmental and wellbeing spaces and solve the current problems of anti-social behaviour in the undercroft. It is possible to omit some or all of these improvements however this will reduce the positive impact of the development.
There is a separate report tabled for the controversial Kilburn Square development. Keith Anderson from the local campaign against the council's plans said:
As far as we can see this is mainly an enabling report to allow them to do pretty much what they want on the entire area including both the clinic and mental health buildings, where the new tower and extra care facility are due to go, and all the rest of the Co-op estate site, including the trees and green space that Buildings C and D would remove.
We also spotted in the modifications to the Local Plan that they want to slip in a clause allowing tall buildings on the KS site – so they don’t contravene the Plan if they press ahead with another 17 storey tower. Not that any of this project, Plan A or a smaller Plan B, is covered by the Local Plan in the 0-5 year frame!
They’ve had strong pushback from local neighbours (and some estate residents) on the Zooms two weeks ago. And the petition is up to 740 signatures.
Cllr Southwood keeps saying the designs are not finalised (and there’s a brief statement to that effect in today’s report) – but we have limited faith in that; the report also has language about the overriding need for more social housing, which they seem to think means they can ride roughshod over any counter arguments about the wellbeing of the current estate residents or the interests of our local community.
The meeting takes place at 10am this morning AGENDA
You can watch the webcast of the meeting HERE
Kilburn Square petition http://chng.it/xwxLyYcDhP
New Council Homes is welcoming feedback from anyone in Kilburn Brent, Kilburn Camden or Queen’s Park Wards. Details from streetgroups@mistral.co.uk
From Metropolitan Police
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of theft following allegations that they took items and shared them, for the purpose of allowing people to have unauthorised access to Wembley stadium during the Euro 2020 final.
An 18-year-old man from Ilford, London and an 18-year-old man from Newham, London have both been released under police investigation while enquiries continue.
The action comes following a commitment by the Met to investigate offences during the Euro 2020 final, which resulted in a breach of security at Wembley stadium.
