Many questions left unanswered at today's Willesden Green consultation

Consultation presentation at 2pm today

I started out feeling sorry for Beth Kay from the Brent Council Regeneration Team today as she was once again the council's 'messenger' under fire from many quarters at the latest 'consultation'. .This sympathy was reduced somewhat when I heard the presentation and some of her answers to questions.. The Q&A would have gone much better if there had been a neutral chair to keep order and make sure that full answers were provided.

The main feature was the exhibition showing a possible scheme incorporating the 1894 Library. However Beth gave mixed messages about this. At one stage she had been talking about dialogue being frustrated by the issue of the the Victorian library and said, "Now the Old Library has been saved we can have conversations about what we want in the new library". However later she said that the retention of the Old Library compromised the scheme, presented challenges and made her nervous in planning terms.

In presenting the results of the top  consultation concerns (Loss of Old Library 45%, Loss of Wiilesden Bookshop 22%, Inadequate parking 18%, Renovation rather than redevelopment 17%, Dislike of design 16%, Insufficient consultation 16%, New building too small 14%, Loss of public space at front of building 14%) she referred to three petitions.  However for the 'Retaining Bookshop' petition and the 'Pause, Listen and Reflect' here presentation only gave the figures for the e-petition, rather than the much larger (sometimes 10 times larger) paper petitions. For the 'Oppose Demolition of the Old Library' petition  the presentation gave both the e-petition and paper petition figures.

I protested that this seriously misrepresented the number of people supporting the first two petitions and she undertook to amend the presentation.

Another conflict arose over the Willesden Bookshop. Beth claimed once again that the bookshop's rent had been subsidised (despite the owner Steve's denial on this blog) and that all bookshops were in crisis. She further claimed that the Bookshop itself had admitted it was not viable. However she said that (yet another) consultant had been appointed to look into the viability of a combined cafe/bookshop.

When it was pointed out that the Willesden Bookshop had now closed despite her presentation stating that the Council was trying to continue non-core services in the interim, she said that the Council was trying to find them premises on the High Road.

Challenged by another member of the audience on the total amount of  money that had been spent on consultants she was unable to provide an answer but implied that Galliford Try was footing the bill.

Questioned about why the planning application had been pulled Beth said this was due to the widespread opposition to the demolition of the Old Library. She did not mention that GLA planners had raised concerns that the proposals did not meet London Heritage policies in meetings with Brent Council officers. With a straight face she stated, "By withdrawing the planning application we have shown it is not a 'done deal' ".

During discussion about why refurbishment of the 1989 hadn't been considered, and when the audience laughed when someone asked 'Who built it if it's no good?" and was answered, to laughter "Brent Council!", Beth claimed that the Chalkhill Estate had been rebuilt and that was the same age as the current library. In fact the old Chalkhill Estate was built in several phases between 1966-70, 20 years earlier than the library.

I did not receive a satisfactory answer to a question about possible conflict over Brent Council's role as instigator of the project, point partner with the developer, conductor of post partnership public consultation, and decision maker on the planning application. I pointed out that our objections were not just limited to the retention of the Old Library but also concerned the loss of open space, the fact that the housing was unaffordable, loss of bookshop and the provision of council offices, none of which were to be consulted on. We wanted the Council to start again from scratch involving local people from the beginning. Beth angrily stated that the provision of council offices was a matter for the council and nothing to do with the  public, only the Council knew what they needed.

In the light of the above I asked that Keep Willesden Green be given the space to make their case to the public in the interests of openness and democracy. . To rumbles of disagreement she said that she did not think KWG was representative but added that it had been added to the list of special interest  groups to be consulted in September.   She responded more positively to a suggestion that there should be an ongoing  group to work on the proposals, possibly as part of the Willesden Town Team, or as a separate group.

I recognise this is a personal and subjective account and will happily post other views if they are sent to mafran@globalnet.co.uk

Martin Francis

Willesden Green: incompetence can do as much damage as corruption

A local resident has written the following letter regarding today's consultation:

I very much regret that I cannot attend the 'update' on the WGLC on Wednesday 8th. August as I am working out of Newcastle all next week.

However, I would like to make a statement.

i)     It seems to me that Galliford Try are being somehow made the 'villains' in the current planning chaos.  As far as I can ascertain, all the company ever did was draw up plans according to the brief given them by Brent Council.

ii) In January of 2011 someone, or a small group within the council, decided it would be a good idea to redevelop the WGL site, given the pressure on councils to build more housing.

iii)   Without taking any meaningful survey of local opinion, the council put the project out to tender. In return for building land, the developer would build build a new 'centre'..the southern hub of the one in Wembley built at a cost of round £100,000.000. GT's tender was accepted.

iiii)  It was not possible for the developers to gain reasonable profit unless they used most of the land, so quotes were submitted which involved removing the present 23 year old library and the 1894 building, built by public subscription and a Carnegie grant, and utilising the open space around the 1894 building.
     
v)    It should be obvious to all that the scheme is not viable.  The value of the land is, I understand, around £10,500.000.  If this is all the money available to build the new WGL, it is not enough.  The 'southern hub' as the publicity puts it, is to cost about 10% of the Wembley one. It must also provide extra space for the people displaced by the closure of the Six.

Please could the council look carefully at its assets, leave the 1894 building and open space as a genuine focal point on the High Street, redevelop the existing building, put in a competent manager who will not let spaces like the cinema and cafe sit empty and dark for years, and who has a sense of what is genuinely valued by the community, ie. the Bookshop. The treatment of the bookshop is a local, national (see  the Guardian) and international (Zadie Smith in New York Review of Books) disgrace, and shows beyond a doubt that despite the council's tough talk of demanding a commercial rental for any spaces within the new WGL, the council has no idea how any commercial enterprise is run, how much notice is needed to vacate a site, or any other practical matter like re-stocking etc. 

Many have suggested to me that the council is obviously corrupt.  I have always maintained that the bad old days are over.  However, a misguided, incompetent and ill-informed council, however well-meaning, can do as much damage as a corrupt one.  

I beg GT, together with the the Council's Regeneration Team, to take a good look at council assets and come up with a plan which will not result in a really poor deal for the students, library users and citizens of Brent.

Closed bookshop a sad backdrop to Wednesday's consultation

 The empty shelves and locked doors of the Willesden Bookshop were a sad sight in Willesden today. The threatened old Victorian Library was clearly reflected in the windows on which were posted Zadie Smith's New York Review of Books article about the Willesden Green redevelopment and an article about the bookshop closure from the Brent and Kilburn Times.

In the few minutes I was there several people came up to use the bookshop and were rather bewildered to find it closed. Just as people had been at the closed libraries when they had come to use them and found them shut down.

This is another photograph along with the Wall of Shame at Preston Library which should make any Brent Labour councillor with a millilitre of socialism left in his or her blood tremble with shame. It was their partnerhip with a private developer, sneaked in behind the back of residents, compounded by their subsequent misinformation about alleged subsidies to the bookshop and failure to provide any real help with relocation, which sounded the death knell of this loved and valuable local resource.

Shame.

Meanwhile on Wednesday the Library Lab (an organisation 'supported' by Brent Council) will be holding a consultation about the redevelopment. I was at Willesden Green to find out more. When I asked if Library Lab would be neutral staff member Joanna said  that they aimed to be more thorough and open than the previous consultations with this one spanning two months. Asked if the previous consultation organisers, Remarkable PR, were still involved and if so what was their role, she said she didn't really know but that there was lot of documentation from them to get her head around before Wednesday.

Wednesday's consultation will be at the Library Lab (the old cafe space within the building) between 11am and 8pm with presentations at noon, 2pm, 4pm and 7pm.

Martin Redston of Keep Willesden Green, told the Wembley and Willesden Observer:

The fact is they (Brent Council and Galliford Try) are making this up as they go along. They hoped to get this all through the back door and weren't expecting this level of opposition. They have given 10 days notice for  this meeting. It is in the middle of the Olympics and when everyone who is not watching it is on holiday. If this isn't a case of burying bad news I don't know what is.

'Engage' with Council and Galliford Try on August 8th

We hope there will be a lot more to Galliford Try and Brent Council's summer 'stop, listen and reflect' period but here is the first (hopefully not the last) offer: After all August is when many families will be away.

Anyway this will be a chance to make the case for the retention of the Old Library, space for the Willesden Booskhop, a Town Square (now thankfully cleared of the wooden trees!), proper management and anything else that concerns you.

Dear Resident

The planning application for the proposed new Willesden Green Cultural Centre was withdrawn by Galliford Try at the beginning of July.

The Council and Galliford Try are now proposing some further engagement activities with local people and other stakeholders to explore the design for the Cultural Centre including what the building will look like and also what activities will take place in and around the building.

An open day will be held on 8 August 2012 at the Willesden Green Library Centre in the Library Lab to update all stakeholders. You are welcome to drop in at any  time during the day and we will be available to answer questions. There will be presentations at set times during the day and further information on this will be available at the Library Lab.

Thursday 8 August

11am to 8pm at the Library Lab at the WGLC

Beth Kay

Regeneration Officer (Major Projects)

( Office: +44 (0) 20 8937 1038

( Mobile: +44 (0) 7943 190 093

Ê Fax: +44 (0) 20 8937 1050

: Email:beth.kay@brent.gov.uk

*Address: Regeneration & Major Projects, 2nd Floor, East Wing,

349 -357 High Road, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 6BZ

Willesden residents warned about 'desperate' people at their doors

From Brent and Kilburn Times, June 28th, 2012

100% disapproval of old library demolition, 95% opposition to entire scheme

This further comment on the planning application may be of interest:

I have spent many hours talking to local residents and others about this scheme. To date I have found that there is 100% disapproval of the proposal to demolish the old 1894 Library building and probably 95% opposed to the entire scheme.Many are actively campaigning by writing objections to Brent's planning officer. It should be recognised that the Applicant's own survey implemented in April 2012 indicated more than 70% disapproval for this scheme.

On this basis alone the current plans should be rejected. The application being considered by the Planning Committee includes many unsubstantiated statements in particular in relation to the condition of the existing buildings, consultation procedures and outcomes etc. The design and access statement correctly identifies that the 1983 design was opened in 1989 as a 'marker for regeneration in the area'. Later in the same document there is justification for the new development by reference to the public spaces which are apparently neglected at the rear and steeply ramped at the front thus deterring their use as a public space and preventing access to the library.

Neither of these contentions is true, public events are often organised easily in ether position but little promotoion is implemented by Brent Council as a result of the lack of will to create public community feeling. The description of the library building is clearly inaccurate. It describes it as unwelcoming and with poor signage. The signage could easily be updated, and indeed a new matrix light sign has been erected over the frontage and provides information about current events. The two Willesden Green Library Centre signs at the front are both clearly visible from the High Road and could be enhanced with modern LED lights if necessary. Colourful flags and banners could be incorporated along the frontage and elsewhere in Willesden Green advertising the facilities. This is the approach taken by other Councils in parts of London.

 As I understand it Brent Council has Planning Guidelines for this type of public building. It is clear that the scheme does not comply with these. For example Objective 9 of the Brent sustainablity plan states that an increase of public open space is to be provided. This not the case with this scheme, where public open space is actually decreasing and being moved round to the rear, largely as a facility for the flats behind. It should be noted that there is currently a Town Square registration application for determination later in July. The Registration is necessary because the area between the Old and New libraries have been used by the Public as of right for more than twenty years, thus precluding any building work over the area.

 Public car parking is not included within the new WGCC at all. Existing loading bay provision in Grange Road is being converted to Parent/baby and disabled spaces (5 in total). This contrasts directly with the private car parking being provided for the private flats where 60 spaces are being created in an underground car park below. This will reduce use of the new Centre because public transport does not serve all areas of the borough.

 Section 106 Agreement. In discussions with many members of the Community, I have been asked repeatably about Social Housing provision as a planning gain to be provided by the developer. None has been offered. Brent Council has indicated that the construction of a new library is being offered in lieu. However as indicated above the new library will have less provision than the existing arrangement. This means that there is nothing additional offered for the benefit of the community. There is thus a lack of S 106 legal provision making the entire application invalid. Please ensure that it is rejected on these grounds

Beware the stranger at your Willesden door

Reports are reaching us of a door-to-door campaign in Willesden Green asking people to sign a petition in support of the 'lovely' new Cultural Centre. This follows hundreds of objections to Galliford Try's planning application for the demolition of the 1980s Centre, the bookshop and the Old Willesden Library.


It is enough to move us to poetry:
 

'Is there anybody there?' said the Developer,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his heart in the silence beat anxiously,
Would they see the fatal flaw?
And a police car sped by a-wailing
Enough to wake the newly dead;
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
'Is there anybody there?' he said.
But no one descended to the Developer;
No head from the leaf-fringed sill
Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes,
Where he stood perplexed and still.
But only a host of determined campaigners;
That dwelt in the lone house then
Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight
To that voice from the world of men:
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair,
That goes down to the empty hall,
Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken
By the lonely Developer's call.
And he felt in his heart their steadfastness,
Their determination answering his cry,

While the petition slipped from his fingers:

No profits for Galliford Try.

Save our bookshop

Just a reminder of the issues from a video made in March

Michael, I just thought you may like to know...

Michael Rosen children's writer and broadcaster

From Michael Rosen's Blog  LINK

Here's a letter I received about the situation with Brent libraries. I am reprinting it in its entirety with permission from its writer, Gill Wood.

Dear Michael,

I was intrigued and frankly flabbergasted to read the email Councillor James Powney sent you about Brent's intentions to issue every child with a library card posted on your blog on 27th April.

You may be aware that Brent Council closed half of its libraries last year, and concerned residents in Willesden Green are fighting the Council's current proposals to demolish the library we have here, not even 30 years old, as well as the original Victorian Library building that has been on the site since 1894 and built by the poor ratepayers of the area at the time who recognised the importance of literacy to their population.

The plans will also evict our much loved Willesden Bookshop, which specialises in children's and multicultural books, and has supplied books at a discount to most of the schools in Brent and beyond in the twenty three years they have been on the site.

The Council plans to give a housing developer valuable public land [the library car park at the back of the building] in return for a new cultural centre building and five blocks of luxury flats. The new building will have a smaller footprint than the one we currently have, and in spite of the need for affordable housing for those on the Council's ever increasing lists, there is no affordable housing provision included in the proposed development. The Council gets a new building and the freehold of a smaller plot, and the developer ends up with a new housing scheme it can sell at market rate.

There is a huge danger that we will lose our bookshop because it will not be able to afford the commercial rates it will need to meet. I was at a Brent Executive meeting when the same Councillor Powney (who voted for this development along with the rest of the Executive without allowing those residents and stakeholders in the library a full and substantive consultation about the plans) told those present that the retail space in the new building will be "high end" commanding a high rent, which the bookshop will not be able to manage. I consequently find his comments to you outrageous and incredibly offensive.

The Council has now posted the planning applications on its website and Brent residents now have until the end of May to write to the planning officer, Andy Bates [andy.bates@brent.gov.uk] and lodge their objections. This is the last opportunity for those of us whose views have been ignored up to this point to make our voices heard before it is too late. I would like to urge every Brent resident who has concerns to write within this crucial consultation period and make their views known.

Numbers crunched by the SOS Libraries Campaign based on the Council's own figures show that in the period between October 2011 to March 2012 (6 months after the libraries closed) 152,000 fewer books were issued and Brent libraries received 148,250 fewer visits compared with the same period the previous year. 54% of borrowers from the 6 closed libraries have not subsequently used another Brent library. The statistics and the actions of the Council speak for themselves.

It is a laudable intention to issue every child with a library card. It would be even better for those children to be within easy reach of a library which will allow them to use it.
 

Here we have a Council actively terminating the life of a small business at the heart of our community and choking off opportunities for children to read, thereby reducing opportunities to raise the borough's poor literacy rates for the sake of a developer's profit margin. This is being brought about by councillors, like Lead Member Powney and the newly elected Council Leader Muhammad Butt, who are supposed to be acting in the best interests of the ratepayers who elected them.

I just thought you may like to know.

Yours sincerely,

Gill Wood

Keep Willesden Green

http://keepwillesdengreen.blogspot.co.uk

Petition presented but will Council listen?

On the Town Hall steps last night

Supported by more than 60 campaigners Miki Berenyi presented Keep Willesden Green's 'Stop, Listen and Reflect' petition to the Executive last night with a cool and cogent speech detailing the Council's failure to consult, its neglect of the original building and its cinema and cafe area, and the fact that the new building has less community amenity than the original.

Cllr George Crane in response said that 'Pause and Reflect' (it is noteworthy that he left out 'listen') would perform no useful function and that the planning process would give time to reflect. He said that her understood the significance of the Old Willesden library building and suggested it could be 'celebrated' within the confines of the new building.

He said that the Council was trying to look at a space for the bookshop within what he called  the 'cafeteria' and was revising the space in the front of the building.

Two local Lib Dem councillors spoke. Cllr Gavin Sneddon in favour of the petition and Cllr Ann Hunter against. Sneddon compared the way Willesden residents had been treated to the very full consultation, from first principles, of the Harlexen Town Plan.

He asked Ann John to give residents an assurance that, in line with the law, no pressure would be put on councillors on the planning committee to approve the plans.

Ann John did not give any such assurance.

Cllr Ann Hunter in a long contribution said that she had asked for two plans - one with and one without the historic building. The previous retention of that building has been a compromise because of strong local feelings. She went on to suggest that there were other residents who thought that building had no value and that it was time to move forward with a dynamic new building that would enhance the area.

Demonstrate in support of our petition on Monday

 Keep Willesden Green are presenting their petition of 3,600 signatures to the Brent Executive on  Monday at Brent Town Hall.

The petition calls on Brent Council to 'Stop, Listen and Reflect' before going ahead with the redevelopment of Willesden Green Library Centre which will mean the community losing the well-used independent Willesden Bookshop, the historic Old Willesden Victorian Library and a cherished open space.

To push home the message Keep Willesden Green ask all who support its aims to join them outside the Town Hall with banners and placards from 6.30pm. The petition is likely to be heard shortly after 7pm.

Get to Willesden Forum tonight

A reminder that the Willesden Green Redevelopment is on the agenda for tonight's Willesden Area Consultative Forum. Councillors will be available and if you arrive early you can book a Soapbox slot or e-mail consultation@brent.gov.uk

From Brent Council website:

Willesden Area Consultative Forum

Next forum meeting:
7pm Wednesday 18 April 2012

Venue
College of North West London
Denzil Road
NW10 2XD

Wards covered Dollis Hill, Dudden Hill, Welsh Harp, Willesden Green

Next forum - Main presentations:
- Olympic Route Network
- Establishing Ward Working Priorities for 2012-13 - come and meet your 
  councillors and tell them about any concerns you have about your ward
- Proposed re-development of the Willesden High* Library Centre
- Brent celebrates the Diamond Jubilee

During the break, you will have the opportunity to speak to your ward councillors, the Safer Neighbourhood Team, speakers and council officers.

* We presume this is a typo and actually refers to Willesden Green NOT the high school!

3,600 ask Brent Council to 'Pause, Reflect and Listen' on Willesden Green

On Shakespeare's birthday on April 23rd, Keep Willesden Green campaigners will be asking the Brent Executive to 'lend us their ears' when we present the petition asking the Council to 'Pause, Reflect and Listen' on the Willesden Green Regeneration plans.

3,600 local people have signed this latest petition which follows other petitions on the retention of the Old Willesden Library building and allocation of space in the new development for the Willesden Bookshop.

Are our councillors going to ignore this petition as they have sought to do with the others?

We should remind the Executive that Antonius went on:

The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones

 The Executive meets at 7pm at Brent Town Hall. AGENDA

Remarkable result: Brent's own consultation shows majority reject Willesden Green proposals

The outcome of the Galliford Try-Brent Council consultation on the Willesden Green Library Regeneration plans are now available and reinforce Keep Willesden Green Campaign's demand that the Council 'Stop, Listen and Reflect':

Remarkable PR had 220 responses to the public consultation (both on line and on paper). The breakdown was:

Supporters of the scheme    15
Partial supporters                24
Undecided                          10
Objections                        171

As a result a revised proposal is being worked on and Remarkable are planning to contact the original 50 people with whom they had 1:1 consultations to ask them to return to review the changes. However it is not expected that these will include the retention of the historic  Old Willesden Library building.

The dates of this second one-to-one consultations will be on April 17th..

Remarkable PR will also be sending out a revised flyer - to a similar number of resident regarding the updated plans.

Library plans "leave nasty taste and room for suspicion"

This is the Letter of the Week in the Brent and Kilburn Times. It is also worth reading their Editorial on Consultation.

Click on image to enlarge

Keep Willesden Green to meet with Ann John

A meeting has been arranged between some of the Keep Willesden Green committee and Ann John, leader of Brent Council. The meeting will take place on Wednesday April 4th.  Supporters who have questions or points to make should e-mail them to keepwillesdengreen@hotmail.co.uk

KWG is continuing its multi-pronged campaign which includes:

1. Calling for the Council to Stop, Listen and Reflect before continuing with the development
2. For full consultation with residents about what they would like to see on the site
3. For allocation of space in any new development to the Willesden Bookshop
4. Preservation of the Old Willesden Library building and gaining support of English Heritage
5. Preservation of the open space in front of the current library
6. Preservation of the Conservation Area on the site of the development
7. Full recognition of the petitions on the Old Library Building and the Willesden Bookshop and a special meeting of the council to discuss the former.
8. Researching the land titles for our (Brent citizens') land the Council is about to give to the developer
9. Preparing submissions on the upcoming planning application
10. Continuing to ask people to sign the Stop, Listen and Reflect petition HERE

Meanwhile supporters are urged to lobby councillors, including the newly elected Lib Dem Alison Hopkins who sent a message opposing the scheme to our hustings meeting.

Supporters cam also register their official complaint about the Regeneration and Major Projects Department's handling of the issue with Brent Council  HERE  Please send us a copy of your complaint at the hotmail address and keep your own record. If you are not satisfied with the response move quickly to Stage 2 and 3 of the procedure.

In addition some Freedom of Information requests have been sent to the Council on detailed issues.

Clearly the fight continues. Please keep checking out this blog and e-mail ideas to keepwillesdengreen@hotmail.co.uk

And circulate the link to the e-petition via your e-mail lists, Twitter,  Facebook etc.
http://democracy.brent.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=32

Happy St Patrick's at Willesden Green on Saturday. Where will it be held after 'regeneration'?

Happy crowds filled the Willesden Green Library, its car park and the piazza open space in front of the library last Saturday to celebrate St Patrick's Day.  Their high spirits were not dampened by the rain.

The picture below challenge the council's claim that the library and its environs are not fit for purpose. With a smaller footprint Cultural Centre and no car park or piazza in the future we are left wondering how St Patrick's Day will be celebrated in Willesden if the regeneration takes place.

The library concourse

The piazza in front of the library

Crowds around the stage erected in the car park

The Ignoring of the Five Thousand

The 'Gospel According to Brent Democratic Services' is a strange one. Keep Willesden Green are aggrieved at the lack of consultation and full public information on the Willesden Green regeneration proposals and want Brent Council to 'Stop, Listen and Reflect' before carrying on.  We claim that the Executive decision to approve the scheme without proper consultation was wrong.

Two petitions, one on retaining the Old Willesden Library and the other on allocating the Willesden Bookshop space in the proposed Cultural Centre have attracted 5710 and 1295 names respectively.  However because the Executive made the decision to go ahead with the scheme Democratic Services have rejected tabling the petitions at Full Council and may do the same for a request for them to go before the Executive.

In the Old Willesden Library case with more than 5,000 names Brent Council's guidelines are clear:

If a petition contains 5,000 or more signatures and is not a petition requesting officer evidence, it will, if requested by the petition organiser, be referred for debate by Full Council. The petition organiser will be informed of the date of the meeting, invited to attend and to take up to 5 minutes to present the petition. The petition will then be considered by councillors

At the next Full Council is not until May and is largely ceremonial with the induction of the new Mayor, and the planning application will be made before then, Democratic Services have said that both petitions should be taken into account by Andy Donald, Head of Regeneration and Major Projects, as part of the application process.  However Andy Donald is the instigator of the council-private partnership project, has defended it strongly at Executive and Scrutiny meetings, and will be making the planning application.

As far as the Planning Committee goes, despite its statutory independence, it will be Brent Council, via the Executive making an application to Brent councillors.  Labour councillors hold the majority of places on the planning committee.

The Council's stonewalling and avoidance of debate raises vital issues of democratic accountability and Keep Willesden Green will continue to press for a full debate of these issues.

Developers put the 'Con' into 'Consultation - Michael Rosen

After Keep Willesden Green had a successful morning outside the Brent Council - Galliford Try Consultation I came across this on Michael Rosen's blog. LINK  Michael is the children's poet and BBC broadcaster. It may ring bells for you!

In many streets, there is a scarcely visible process going on: developers eye up land and properties with a view to convincing councils that there is a place or space which they can make a profit out of. They don't call it that. They call it 'regeneration' and proceed to line up various agencies or authorities to back them: eg the local transport people, some 'business people', some kind of 'development agency' or ngo in the area and so on. They will also try to capture some key members of the council (elected or non-elected). Sometimes this process is initiated by a council committee as part of their own 'regeneration' scheme.

In fact, more often than not, it's a con. The 'affordable' housing that is sometimes promised at the outset, starts diminishing in numbers as the developer pleads economy and 'returns  on investment'. Quite often some kind of half-hidden subsidy is engineered by either the council or one of the ngos whereby the developer gets the land cheap or received some kind of suspension in the council tax etc. And when it comes to the 'retail units', more often than not, this is in fact an effort to bring in the multinational chains.

Prior to all this, the land or properties that the developers have been eyeing may well have been deliberately run down by the public authorities eg the council or transport authority. The 'dereliction' they talk about in their glossy brochures may well have been engineered, by refusing to let tenant holders, short-term occupiers or some such stay and develop their own property. Groups (eg council subsidised self-help groups, community organisations and the like) are often told that they can be moved out at any time. Another trick is for the council to have not updated and upgraded some properties they owned so that they are in effect falling down.

At this point the developer's plan is presented as the only viable alternative. The possibility of people on the ground developing their places and spaces has been eliminated by refusing to let them (!), some deal is on the cards whereby the developer is getting some kind of subsidy from us, the council tax payers, but which may well be hidden as a non-ask eg a very low payment for a slice of property, and the council and the developer produce some great big brochure of blather saying how this is all a marvellous retail opportunity, everything is going to look smart and nice, Marks and Spencer are going to be on your doorstep etc etc.

Now to the council meeting to see if they can get it through.

At this point, I'll break off the story...with this:

Just up the road from a historic defeat for the people, places and spaces of Dalston in Hackney, comes a historic victory:

http://opendalston.blogspot.com/2012/03/dalstons-voice-is-heard-hackney-reject.html

Transition Willesden make their voice heard on redevelopment

Willesden Transition at an earlier event

Transition Willesden is a local group offering a community-led response to the challenges of peak oil, climate change and the economic crisis.  We are not a campaigning organisation, but wish to issue the following in response to this local issue:

Viv Stein, Co-ordinator of Transition Willesden, says:

We are very concerned about the impact the proposed development will have on both the local community and the environment.  We oppose the loss of green space and are calling for a community food growing area within the plans.

The loss of the existing library, bookshop, meeting rooms and other facilities will have a damaging affect on community cohesion during the closure period.  Following the closure of other local libraries in the area, we do not consider that adequate interim facilities are being made available for local residents.

The scheme appears to have come about as a result of the cash-strapped Council letting the developers call the shots, at the expense of the local community.  Willesden High Road is supposed to be undergoing regeneration for the benefit of local residents and businesses.  The community is rightly angry that decisions have been made without listening to them from the start.

We welcome Keep Willesden Green’s aim to get the Council to pause and reflect on the plans.