Probity and Planning in Brent

 

With the far-reaching new Brent Local Plan now in place until 2041, Brent enters a new period of multi-million pound developments in its growth areas that will change the face of Brent, as well as the more routine planning applications that are often delegated to officers.

With its quasi-judicial role the Planning Committee is supposed to be free from any specific political interference although it operates within the Council's Local Plan and Planning Guidance.

There have been questions raised in the past about indirect political interference in Planning Committee, especially when Labour members who do not conform the expectations lose their position (and their additional allowance)  in one way or another.

It is important then that in order to ensure the public see the proceediungs as fair and above board that there is probity in the Planning Committee's structure and proceedings.

The Local Government Association has published advice on probity in planning HERE. They say:

Probity in planning is about ensuring that decisions on plan making and planning applications are undertaken, on behalf of communities, in a fair, impartial and transparent way.

What appears to be missing from this in the context of  a mainly one-party council is how the members of the committee are chosen.  In Brent the proportion of places allocated are on the basis of the local election outcome and there are seven Labour members of the Committee and one Opposition member.  Currently this is a Conservative. Cllr Michael Maurice. There is no Liberal Democrat although concern over new developments in the borough was one of their main campaigning  issues.

Labour members are appointed to the Committee by the leader, and perhaps deputy leader, rather than elected by the Labour Group.. 

It is important to note that there is no overt political whipping  of the Labour committee members on planning matters.

This adminstration's Planning Committee is listed above.  It is worth noting that the chair, Cllr Matt Kelcher, is the partner of the new Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Mili Patel.The  new Vice-chair is Cllr Saquib Butt, brother of Muhammed Butt, leader of the Council.  Both were on the previous Planning Committee.

New members of the Planning Committee include Cllr Ajmal Akram, who I understand is Muhammed Butt's brother-in-law, and Cllr Arshad Mahmood, widely alleged to be Cllr  M.Butt's cousin.

These connections, if true, would constitute half of the Committee, although they all, of course, may be fiercely independent with no family allegiance.

 

Cllr Saqib Butt

In addition to his position on the Planning Committee Cllr S. Butt has also been appointed to the Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee that has planning and regeneration as part of its remit. He is also a member of both the Audit and Standards Committee and its advisory body.

New Wembley Hill councillor  Ajmal Akram goes straight into office as a member of both the Planning Committee and Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee. New Kilburn councillor Rita Begum is on the Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee as well as Planning.

Brent has two wholly-owned subsidiary housing companies First Wave Housing and I4B and Saqib Butt has been appointed the councillor director on both.

 

From First Wave Housing accounts

 

 

From I4B Holdings Accounts

 

Both companies report to the Audit and Standards Committee.

 

Update on Thame Water's clean-up of the Wealdstone Brook

From Thames Water 

Wealdstone Brook Pollution Update

Date: 27 May 2022 Watercourse clean

• Discharge of the fatty/oil waste from the Becmead Outfall has indicatively been reducing over the past week. Booms have been placed in the culvert upstream to limit ingress into the Brook. Routine pump-outs of the booms will be undertaken to prevent build-up. Please advise if any build up bypasses the booms and Thames Water Operations will pump-out.

• A programme for routine flushing has now been finalised and is planned to start on 27 May. Currently this is planned once per week at two locations in the Brook with the aim to scale up/down based on weather conditions.

  Investigations to find the source of the Pollution:

• The discharge of the fatty/oil waste from the Becmead Outfall is indicatively reducing. Mitigation is in place to prevent further ingress into Brook.

• The Investigation crew is completing checks of the culvert, foul and surface network near Kenton Lane to establish if there are any other significant sources of pollution contributing to the issue, specifically sewage.

• A 24 hr telemetry sonde has been installed downstream of the Becmead Outfall as part of the investigation to confirm the source the fatty/oily waste.

  Next steps

• Thames Water Operations to continue monitor the discharge at Becmead closely over the next week to confirm any reduction in fat discharges. Booms and sandbags now placed in the culvert to minimise further discharge.

• Pump-out of the booms when necessary to minimise odour

• Further flushing and cleaning of the brook is planned to minimise the odour.

  .

  Next update: Latest Tuesday 31 May

  .

Full Brent Local Plan 2019-2041 to be published mid-June

 The Brent Local Plan 2019-2041 was approved by Full Council at the budget setting meeting in February with very little discussion.  At the time only a 'basic' version of the plan was available  which was minus images (tables, maps etc). All 482 pages of that version are available HERE.

It is well worth reading so that you have an idea of how your neighbourhood will be changing over the next two decades.

Brent Council has confirmed that the full version will be available soon:

In terms of publication, we are currently finalising the design and layout of the document. The final ‘glossy’ version of the Plan including all illustrations and maps will be published online in mid-June. A high resolution and an accessible version will also be made available online.

Morland Gardens update – Opposition parties combine to call-in decision

 Guest post by Philip Grant in a personal capacity

The Morland Gardens site, from Google streetview.

 

On 17 May, Martin kindly published an open email I had sent to Alan Lunt, Strategic Director, Regeneration and Environment, setting out why Brent should not go ahead with the award of a contract for its proposed development at Morland Gardens in Stonebridge. Despite my advice, the Strategic Director made his Key Decision to award the contract (to Hill Partnerships Ltd, for a total sum of £37,933,491) on 20 May 2022.

 

The main reason why this c.£38 million contract would be a big financial risk for the Council to enter into is that they don’t have the legal right to build over an area of land at the eastern end of the development site. This is currently public highway and the Harlesden City Challenge Community Garden. 

 

Although they could have dealt with the stopping-up of the highway at any time after planning consent was given for the development in October 2020, the Council only gave notice of the proposed Stopping-up Order in April this year. The period for objections to the proposed order ran out on 26 May, and I explained the reasons for my own objection (there have been others) in a guest blog on 28 April. It may take many months before this matter is resolved, and there is no certainty that an order will be approved.

 

Luckily, it appears that some Brent councillors are “Wembley Matters” readers! I’ve been sent a copy of an email received by the three Lib Dem members and two Conservative councillors, from a senior Governance Officer at Brent Council. This is the main part of that email:

 

‘Hi Councillors Lorber, Georgiou, Matin, Maurice & Hirani 

 

I [am] emailing with an update on the call-in request you’ve submitted regarding the decision taken by the Strategic Director, Regeneration & Environment to award a design and build contract for Morland Gardens.

 

Following my email yesterday I can now confirm that we’ve received the required number of requests for the call-in to be submitted.  As required under the call-in protocol, the reasons and outline of alternative action being sought under the call-in have been considered by the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Director of Legal, HR, Audit & Investigations and Head of Strategy & Partnerships, and as a result have been confirmed as meeting the requirements within the protocol and therefore accepted (on the basis of the attached form) to proceed for consideration as a call-in by the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee.

 

Having consulted with the Chair of the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee, I’m able to confirm that the scrutiny meeting to consider this call-in has been scheduled for 6:30pm on Thursday 9^th June 22 with the meeting to take place in person in the Conference Hall, Brent Civic Centre.  As usual the meeting will also be lived streamed for members of the public to follow online.’

 

I will ask Martin to include a copy of the ‘attached form’ at the end of this blog, so that readers who are interested can see what is involved in requesting a call-in.

 

Morland Gardens site plan, from the call-in form

 

I think it is encouraging that councillors in the two opposition parties, including several who were newly elected on 5 May, are willing to work together to ensure that potentially questionable decisions are given close scrutiny. I understand that Councillor Paul Lorber is taking the lead on this call-in.

 

Call-in by itself will not mean any change in this Key Decision, but it will give Scrutiny Committee members the chance to consider reasons for and against the decision, and to question the Lead Member and Council Officers responsible for it. At the end of the meeting on 9 June, they will either decide to refer the matter back to the decision maker, with recommendations, or that they do not object to the decision, so that it can go ahead.

 

It will be interesting to see how the new Chair of this Scrutiny Committee, and the majority Labour councillors, deal with the call-in. You can watch the meeting yourself, either in person or online, to see how our “new” Council operates in practice. Hopefully, this important piece of scrutiny will be dealt with on its merits, and not on party political lines!

Philip Grant

 

 

Consultation on plans for more Wembley Park student accommodation on Gynn's Waste Management site on 5th Way

A communications company has sent a letter to residents and local industry announcing consultation events for proposals to build student accommodation (which they say is 'much needed' !) in 5th Way Wembley. The site is  currently a mixture of industrial uses, the main one being Glynn's Waste Management.

The website says that some of the 654 student rooms will be affordable so presumably some are not.

 

Wembley Edge Property Ltd is bringing forward proposals to provide new high-quality student accommodation at the waste site currently occupied by Glynn’s Waste Management, on land to the north and south of Fifth Way. Alongside much-needed new student rooms, including affordable ones, the plans will deliver a range of student on-site amenities and c.4,000 sqm of modern light industrial workspace to support new and growing businesses.

As part of the development of the proposals for Wembley Edge, a range of public consultation events will be held over the coming weeks. A dedicated website - https://wembleyedge.co.uk/ - has been set up to provide local residents and businesses with further information and updates on our progress.

Consultation Events

• An online webinar will be held on Thursday 9 June 6-7pm.

• Two in-person public exhibitions will be held for local residents to view the emerging proposals and provide feedback:
  

  Wednesday 8 June, 3.30-7.30pm–Brent Civic Centre

   Saturday 11 June,10.30-2.30pm–Brent Civic Centre

  Representatives from the project team will be in attendance to discuss the proposals and answer any questions attendees may have. Details of these events will also be available on the website and printed invitations to the events will be delivered to neighbouring residents and businesses.

  If you have any questions or require any further information about the consultation or proposals, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by contacting brogers@conciliocomms.com or calling at 07748 481 721, or join us at one of our consultation events.

 Needless to say I think truly affordable family housing is rather more 'much needed'.

We're back!

Apologies for the absence of any new postings this week.  I have not been well but have now recovered enough to catch up on some issues in the pipeline.

Martin Francis

Barn Hill Conservation Group erect panels to educate and inform the public about their work in Fryent Country Park

 

 

Barn Hill Conservation Group who look after the vast Fryent Country Park and the small and beautiful Roe Green wallked gardem, won a grant last year for work on the Gaderbrook that runs though the park. After one of the contractors decided not to charge them for the work the group allocated it to install new interpretative panels in the park and these were unveiled this morning in bright sunshine.

In the video above Maurice Gold gives the background to the group's work which has been going on for more than 40 years to the benefit of all Brent residents. They were one of the first environmental groups in the borough, long before such an interest was fashionable.

 

The Barn Hill Conservation Group

Harlesden Picture Palace Meeting June 9th at 6pm - information and responses to the plans

 

 

Harlesden Neighbourhood Forum held a meeting on Tuesday 17th May at the Salvation Army. A team of designers from The Picture Palace - a former pub acquired by Brent council to create a community centre - was there to present the project. 

 

They were asked a lot of questions by the audience about the future purpose of the building, its refurbishment, the tendering process as well as the long-term financial sustainability of the Picture Palace. 

 

It became quickly apparent that there was a significant frustration among Harlesden residents present at the event. The general feeling was that the community had not been thoroughly consulted and that there was a risk the Picture Palace would not answer the needs of the local community.

 

That’s why Harlesden Neighbouring Forum decided on the spot to schedule an emergency meeting that will be held at the Picture Palace on June 9th. 

 

 

Harlesden Neighbourhood Forum invites you to a dedicated meeting on the Picture Palace. The meeting will be held on Thursday, 9th June 2022 at 6.00 pm.

 

Location: The Picture Palace 26 Manor Park Rd, London NW10 4JJ

The event is open to members and residents. If you are not a member yet, please register at

https://www.harlesdenneighbourhoodforum.com/sign-up

IMPORTANT: We would like to remind our members that the Forum is committed to allowing full participation and safe space.

Brent Council and Asset for Brent will provide information and responses to the questions raised by the residents on the plans for the Picture Palace.

Come and see how you can get involved!

If you have any questions at all or need support, get in touch at info@harlesdenneighbourhoodforum.com

Please note we are all adjusting to changes in the restrictions. Sanitisers and masks will be available at the event.