Kilburn Neglect

I have been reflecting that the recent planning permission for the Kilburn State is probably the first major piece of good news that Kilburn High Road has had for years.

Back in 2006, the new Lib Dem / Tory administration closed the One Stop Shop in Dyne Road. This was supposedly because the rent was too high, although the Council continued paying for the empty building for some time afterward. The One Stop Shop got moved down to the Ancient Order of Foresters in Kilburn High Road, a not terribly suitable location. We were assured at the time that this was temporary, but the Kilburn One Stop Shop still has no permanent home. I cannot rid myself of the suspicion that the office has been allowed to wither on the vine as a cost cutting measure.

The new Brent administration also decided to cut funding for the Town Centre Manager (which had been shared 50/50 with Camden). Fortunately for us Camden carried on paying the full cost. If I were a Camden Council Tax payer I wouldn’t be very satisfied with that, but that is up to them. I understand that they are now getting tired of subsidising Brent and about to cut the service.

Then we had the recession hit, with several of the Kilburn High Road shops going out of business and being left empty, dragging the area down further. If the proposed major new development of Brent Cross Cricklewood (BXC) goes ahead, there is a real danger of even more life being sucked out of the area.

Kilburn High Road is supposed to be one of our key shopping centres, yet we don’t do much to promote it. This is partly because it is the victim of the same kind of Borough issues as Kensal Green, but also because it is given marginal weight within the administration.

I recall asking Irwin Van Colle (The Tory Lead member for planning) about drawing up a Supplementary Planning Document to encourage development in the area. He basically said there were more important priorities. As a Tory living in Barnhill he has little interest in the south of the Borough. Unfortunately, the Lib Dem councillors for Kilburn carry little weight within their own party. I don’t think the Lib Dems expected to get any seats in Kilburn so they put two of their weakest candidates there. Derek Jackson is one of several more or less silent members on the Lib Dem benches. Cllr Anthony Dunn is vocal, but his style is such that I don’t think he has much respect even within his own group. Interestingly, he appeared in lots of leaflets in Queens Park in the run up to the last local elections, which led me to expect him to stand in that ward. He switched to Kilburn only at the last moment, and I have always wondered why.