Queens Parade, Willesden

Queens Parade, Willesden, is best known as an experimental meanwhile space, an experiment that was very successful.  It is now part of a planning application that I suspect will will be far less popular.  The proposal is for a seven and eight storey building that will be used for student accomodation.

I think that is frankly too big.  Brent has a policy of concentrating tall buildings in its five growth areas for a reason _ to protect the lower density developments in the rest of the Borough.  There is a creeping pressure on Willesden to accept bigger and bigger blocks.  Electric House was one of those, which I can accept because of its position at the head of a street.  Similarly with the Erin Court development from a much earlier time, but The Queensbury redevelopment was rightly refused as much too big. 

The provision of more student housing is also questionable in an area that already suffers from an extremely transient population.  In the past, Brent planning committee refused student accommodation at the former Spotted Dog development citing this as a reason.  The logic behind this has not changed.

Brexit's Dangerous Direction

Yesterday's Observer carried a story that the former Tory Party Leader has raised the threat of war against Spain.  Doesn't this illustrate just how much damagethe referendum vote has done, and how much damage the "negotiations" are doing?  Who would have thought a few years ago that a former Tory Leader would be seriously threatening war against a fellow democracy, EU member and NATO member in Western Europe?

Willesden Library Cafe Open

As I mentioned yesterday, Willesden Library finally has an open, functioning Cafe.  Cafe facilities have been an important part of the success of Wembley Library, and I have no doubt will contribute to a rise in usage at Willesden as it gets going. 

Willesden Library Cafe Opens

At last, the cafe at Willesden Library is actually open.  It has been a long time coming. I shall try to post some pictures later on.

The Return of Wembley Stadium's Transport Blight

The proposed increase in matches at Wembley Stadium due for consideration at Brent's Planning Committee on Thursday has rightly raised disquiet. 

The increased number of full scale events plus an unknown number of smaller events are bound to lead to more congestion in the Wembley area.  Last time I used the Jubilee line when a weekday match was on the overcrowding stretched from Westminster all the way to Wembley Park.  Dozens more events will impose significant extra burdens on residents in terms of littering, ASB and so on. 

What gets mentioned less often is the possibility of economic blight for businesses.  Constantly impassable roads will make it very hard for non-Stadium related businesses to operate near the Stadium.  There is a real risk that, rather than brave the congestion, the customers of the LDO and other outlets will simply go elsewhere.  The effect might be to create the monoculture around the old Stadium of gross overcrowding whenever a match is on, combined with dereliction outside those hours.  That would be a real step backwards.

I hope therefore, the Planning Committee defers the decision until they have had a chance to analyse the transport impacts thoroughly.

Willesden Jewish Cemetery Lottery Award

No one locally appears to have picked up the good news about Willesden Jewish Cemetery.  It has been awarded a more than £300k grant for improvements.  It is hoped that this might be augmented by further grants.  The plans sound ambitious:

"The ‘House of Life’ project will restore the eight hectare graveyard and create a new visitor centre, café, learning centre and permanent exhibition about the cemetery’s history."

It also sounds like there could be a natural tie in with the Brent Museum to work upon some educational projects celebrating Willesden's rich Jewish history.

Willesden Library Cafe Finally Arrives

Willesden Library has finally got a cafe, or at least some one has signed a contract to rent the space.  The tenant is called Delipod, and tends to do "pop up" cafes.  I notice it is locally based, very close to the Library.  Finally seeing something open there will be a great thing to see after so many false starts.  The advantage lies not much in the rent as the sense of extra activity that would be brought to the whole centre. 

Scrutiny Improvement at Brent Council

The forthcoming Full Council meeting has a short review of Scrutiny arrangements as part of its business.  I dare say this will be widely overlooked as the Budget is debated the same night.  The conclusion appears to be that the new dual committee structure will be rather more effective than the single committee structure rammed through by Cllr Butt in 2014.  However, the short review available doesn't seem able to find any examples where the Scrutiny process has actually produced better outcomes. 

ARK Academy Award

Good to see that the Ark Academy in Wembley is getting an award for acting as a sports venue for the local community.  Not enough schools act in this way, in some ways for understandable reasons.  Aside from the sheer bother of managing a sports venue for hire, there is the issue of who bears the costs.

In the case of ARK, as I recall availability to the local community was part of the planning permission back in 2009.  It is also an outcome of that process in the sense that at the time the site was merely a muddy field, with a tendency to become water logged in winter.  Building the school upgraded the facilities to the ones described by the Kilburn Times as:

"On site facilities at the academy include a high-quality 3G astroturf pitch set against the backdrop of the famous Wembley Stadium.  There is an outdoor 11a side pitch and a 5a side pitch and during the colder months, visitors can book the indoor 5a side area.  The Football Association partly funded the project to create an excellent grassroots venue for Londoners to book online."

The application, and hence the facilities available to the wider community, were bitterly opposed by the Conservative Party and the Tory Party at the time, as Martin Francis' contemporaneous account recalls.  Incidentally, Martin was highly critical of me in that for voting in favour of the planning permission.  He seems to have regarded disagreeing with him as being an inherently unprincipled thing to do, which it is not.

Brexit Comes Home

Brent Council's Equalities Committee should congratulated for its work on European Union minorities in the Borough.  In a report tonight, the Committee is trying to get to grips with the scale of the problem.  Unfortunately, this is an area where even trying to work out many people are affected by Brexit is quite hard. 

Nor do we have any real control over whether such people want to stay or leave the UK.  The present Tory government, led by a woman who has followed a pretty nasty anti immigrant policy for several years as Home Secretary, seems to want to make their life as nasty as possible. 

All this strikes as really a very illiberal and unpleasant approach that most people in our Borough will find deeply disturbing and conducive to poor community relations. 

At least Brent is trying to quantify the problem, which is the first step to doing something about the issues involved.

Polish Businessman Mysteriously Disappears

I came across a curious reflection of Brent Council's use of photographs recently.  In looking at a short story on the West London Business awards covered by getwestlondon, we see an image of people from The Polish Bakery based in Park Royal. 

The image shows three employees of The Polish Bakery, which won an award, and Konnie Huq (who was the presenter at the ceremony).  I am sure that everyone will be pleased at their success as Company of the Year.

A similar photo appears on the Brent Council web site, which covered the same story.  Can anyone spot the difference?

 

London School Cuts

Truly grim figures are being produced for schools across London in terms of funding cuts.  Brent seems to sit roughly in the middle of the London distribution.  These cuts are likely to reverse one of the really big achievements of the last Labour government in London, a vast improvement in educational standards in the late 1990s and early in this century.  I know other parts of London are protesting to the Secretary of State, but little seems to be happening in Brent.

Bulky Items Yet Again

Another option I see in the Brent Council budget papers is the return of charging for the bulky item collections.  This has been brought up many times, and I simply don't believe the officer estimates of income are credible.  Indeed there are a number of reasons why I think such a policy does not make sense. 

Public Realm Improvement

I was interested to read in the Brent Council Budget papers from Monday that:

"However, these changes are specifically intended to improve environmental standards overall.  They will ensure the most persistent and most noticeable problem areas are eliminated once and for all." (page 71)

That is a pretty bold claim.  I hope it turns out to be true.  If so it would be a vindication of the amount of work that went into the new contract. However, the same report plans to save £900k from envionmental operations so I would like to the "improvements" before deciding how credible they are.

Progress at Moberly Sports Centre

Moberly Sports Centre is well under way, with works clearly visible above ground.  Brent residents will be able to access the Sports Centre at the same rates as Westminster residents once it opens in May 2018, which demonstrates the importance of paying attention to planning permission at the right time.  I hope that pay similar attention to other developments. 

Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Allocation

One report at today's Brent Council cabinet meeting should attract attention but hasn't.  The proposals for a new Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) allocation mechanism had the potential to make the allocation of planning gain monies far more transparent and obvious.  /since the document proposes delegating the powers to the Lead member and the Director (and whichever individuals those two choose to talk to), the effect is the opposite.

Keniston Press Site

Tucked away at the very back of tomorrow's Brent Council Cabinet papers are the latest plans for the Falcon/Keniston Press site in South Kilburn/Queens Park.  The site was earmarked for housing years ago, but development was blocked in case the site was needed for HS2.  The Council now plans to start building on it in 2017.  This really should be the subject of debate by local people, especially given previous controversies there.  At the moment, I see no signs of such a debate.

Bleak News for Local Government Budgets

The continuing cuts to local government are now reaching the point where local authorities are in danger of becoming insolvent.  This was predicted at the time of the graph of doom debate long ago, and has been predicted since.

It is now affecting all areas of Council services, of which parks are merely the latest example.

What surprises me is that not only did Ministers literally plan the break down in local government, but even now they seem to be devoting more time to avoiding blame for it than staving it off.  The well publicised Surrey buy out shows that the Tories continue to favour the areas where Cabinet Minister sits, but will do nothing for the wider local government crisis. 

Brent Council Cabinet Resignations

I suppose one should congratulate Cllr Mili Patel on joining the Brent Cabinet as the Lead member for Children & Families, but she might well wonder what she is getting herself into as this is the third resignation since the Executive were elected by the Labour Group in May. 

Libraries and Mental Health

Just catching up with this Guardian piece on the importance of libraries to young peoples' mental health.  Nick Poole seems to have vastly improved CILIP's lobbying by moving beyond a just say no to change approach to demonstrating the value of public libraries to various fields.  Libraries can be used in a huge number of different ways, and if they are kept in-house, the Council can retain flexibility as to whether they are focusing on public health, digital literacy, reassuring minorities, promoting the arts, general community space or (indeed) straightforward library services.  Something that might be lost if they were spun off.

Brent's First Romanian Book Collection

On Saturday I went to the opening of Brent Libraries first Romanian book collection at Willesden Green Library (also in Romanian).  Cllr Tom Miller made an excellent speech emphasizing Brent's diversity and our continuing welcome to Romanian people despite the Brexit vote.

Some parts of the countries have seen a rise in xenophobic prejudice as a result of the Brexit referendum, and Romanians have been particularly targeted by the likes of Nigel Farage.  Having a Romanian book collection is a practical symbol of how these are not our values.

Comments on Manor Park Road Development

I must say the sheer number of comments on the new Manor Park Road development surprises me.  At the time of writing more than 200 comments have been made.  The number and the similarity of the comments makes me wonder if they have all been made by different people. 

Harlesden Post Office Closure

I am surprised that this Post Office closure story has not had more attention.  In the past, Post Office closures have been a hot topic, with the Liberal Democrats and Labour both campaigning on the issue.  Although I recall the Liberal Democrats confessing their ineffectual nature, and the Tories actually welcoming closure.

Unless the services are relocated nearby, the closure could have a negative impact on Harlesden Town Centre, which is already suffering from the Royal Oak closure.

Bridge Park Sports Centre Redevelopment

The next Brent Council cabinet meeting on Monday has, buried at the back, an update on the redevelopment of Bridge Park Sports Centre.  The partner companies for this are based in Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands, which seems unfortunate, as the only reason I can think for them to be based there is aggressive tax avoidance.  Reading the reports, it sounds as if it makes enforcing the contracts much more complicated.

Camden Libraries Adopt Open Plus

Camden libraries are going to use Open Plus technology at five of their branches from tomorrow, as well as ending Sunday opening at Swiss Cottage Library.  I am afraid I have to regard that as a retrograde step, which I imagine is driven by budget needs and a desire to keep branches "open".

Casual Library Use

The problem, as I see it, is that what might call passing trade will be excluded.  People will have to be signed up users of Camden libraries before they can enter.  That is likely to deter many users, who may be reluctant to sign up or simply not have their card with them.  Over time, I suspect it might have quite a broad effect in putting people off since I imagine that Camden like Brent has a fairly high churn of residents.  The result would be falling usage for a service that is already seeing visits and loans on a downward trend.

New Manor Park Road Development in Harlesden Town Centre

Following from the negative news that the Royal Oak has closed, some potentially good news of a new development has emerged.  The site behind the Salvation Army site on Manor Park Road is proposed for development. 

Affordable Housing

The proposal is for housing, in line with Brent's planning documents.  At 51 units, the proposal is denser than the suggested figure in the guidance (30), and the type of housing suggested is 15 "intermediate" units which probably means some sort of shared ownership.  The  market units, to pay for the overall scheme, amount to 34, which would mean an affordable element of roughly a third, although no rented.  Both market and affordable units are mainly one or two beds.  There are only three three bedroom units, all intermediate.  I suspect that the mix of units will be one of the main bones of contention.

Car Free Development

The proposal is for a "car free" development, which makes sense given the Town Centre's public transport access.  Two new spaces are proposed, presumably for disabled people. 

What it Means for Harlesden Town Centre

I have noticed that one of the Kensal Green councillors has already attacked the proposal, although she is basing her criticism on objection to any new housing and an unfounded belief that there will be significant new traffic generation. 

I think in principle it would be good for this long derelict site to be developed as I did with the Park House site, the former Willesden Social Club and the alterations to the Green Man.  It should help increase the foot fall in the area which will make local shops and whatever replaces the Royal Oak more viable. 

Royal Oak Closure

The closure of the Royal Oak in Harlesden comes as a nasty shock.  It has been a key part of regenerating Harlesden Town Centre over the past several years, but the Town Centre is still moving forward and hopefully the Royal Oak will be revived as one of the Town Centre's iconic buildings..

Action or Inaction

(Cllr Muhammed Butt in a previous "Week of Action" courtesy of Martin Francis.)

What, I wonder, happened to the "Week of Action" idea? Many may have forgotten what these were.  A group of agencies from the Council and sometimes outside would gather in an area and seek to engage with the public.  Not in itself a bad idea, although I think it became discredited as no actual action seemed to follow.

However, I can't recall the last time any of these occurred.  Does anyone know?

Katherine Birbalsingh Defends Herself

Katherine Birbalsingh of the Michaela School in Wembley defends herself in the Guardian recently.  Personally, I find the idea of pupils moving silently in single file between classes like something out of A Handmaid's Tale, but she seems to be proud of it. 

Delayed Reactions

I have suggested before that NHS plans in Brent just aren't getting the kind of scrutiny they need.  An example might be the proposals for a common NHS/Council estate strategy.  This has been seen by councillors, but I don't get a sense that there has been any real input as to what the priorities should be or what the strategy should be.  This is the kind of thing that gets pushed through in a committee meeting and suddenly explodes into controversy a long time afterward. 

Brent Councillors Last to Know

Cllr Sharma Tatler was appointed to the Regeneration post vacated by Cllr Roxanne Mashari.  This appointment appears to have been made without even bothering to inform the Labour Group, a striking illustration of Cllr Butt's dictatorial style. 

What is Affordable Housing?

A lot of controversy is generated by the term "affordable housing", since in London especially, it is often far from affordable.  Here is a quick summary of the main types of housing sent to me by a senior housing officer:

Affordable Rent- for family units are usually 60-65% of market rents or the LHA (whichever is the lower), whereas 1-2 bed units are up to 80% of market rent or LHA (whichever is the lower).

 

Social Rent - averages out at 50% of market rent, may be slightly higher (usually 5%) above Social Rent target rents.

 

Intermediate Rent- above both Affordable or Social Rent, but will be below the market value, approx. 90% of market rent.

Yet Another Brent Council Executive Change

I understand that yet another member of Brent's Council Cabinet has stood down.  This time it is Cllr Roxanne Mashari.  Prior to Cllr Keith Perrin in September 2014, it was highly unusual for councillors to step down from the Executive.  Now, Cllr Mike Pavey, Cllr Wilheimina Mitchell=Murray and Cllr Roxanne Mashari all appear to have stood down having only been elected in May this year.  What exactly is going on?

Library Decline

The Guardian reports continuing decline is usage in public libraries across the UK.  As I have pointed out before, Brent's record is markedly better. Once again, Wembley Library comes out as the UK's third most visited (after Birmingham and Manchester). 

Small Business Saturday Not Coming to Brent

Yesterday was Small Business Saturday.  At least was in most places.  Brent did not seem to have any promotional events despite it being marked across the rest of the UK.  This seems a shame when areas like Harlesden Town Centre and Ealing Road are particularly notable for the ir independent shops.. 

Kilburn Regeneration Finally Under Scrutiny

I have been worried by the lack of public engagement in the South Kilburn regeneration before, so it is good to see that the public are at last demanding a say.  But why has it taken so long?  Possibly the Scrutiny Committee, who have this as an upcoming item, might have some answers.

Butt Sticks out on NHS

In a recent dialogue with Cllr Muhammed Butt, I discovered a reason why Brent Council is apparently so relaxed about the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP).  In his view, it is going to enhance service at Central Middlesex Hospital.  

This is, to put it mildly, not a commonly held belief.  Even the STP's defenders think it is being driven partly by expenditure cuts and involves shifting resources away from Central Middlesex, Charing Cross and Ealing Hospitals in particular.

NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP)

It always strikes me as remarkable what attracts controversy and what does not.  Brent Council normally has enormous rows over buildings that, whatever there merits often affect fairly small numbers of users.  By contrast, big policies that affect thousands of people like taking BHP properties back in house get little comment. 

An even more striking example is the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan for North West London.  The Cabinet minutes show little concern over this.  Yet, it is likely to see a substantial downgrading of Central Middlesex and Charing Cross Hospitals, which affects a large part of the southern part of Brent.  Why the reticent response?

Brent Council Finally Updating Air Quality Plan

I am glad to see that the most recent Forward Plan for Brent Council finally includes an update of the Air Quality Action Plan.  I must say it does seem to come rather late in the day.  The last one became due for an update some years ago.  As I have pointed out before, Brent Council's main influence on air quality is through reducing transport emissions.  Its parking policies are not always consistent in this.  Let us hope they sharpen up.

Brent Tory Shambles Deepens

The Brent Tories appear to have issued a sort of clarification of their earlier "deselection" remarks which really just muddies the waters further.  I am not sure what it all means, other than leaving me with the impression that they all, perhaps understandably, loathe each other.  In particular, I am struck by Cllr Davidson's quote:

"He added: “Originally it [the party fallout] was about money, it was about allowances and that was a problem.  Now we have the allowances we should be one group.”

It is unusual for a politician to suggest that he and his colleagues just want the money.  Generally politicians of all parties try to sound (and I think are) a bit more high minded.

Ealing Road Library Redevelopment

I have been learning a bit more about the proposed development of Ealing Road Library.  It is a more interesting development than I thought earlier. 

Firstly there is obviously some thought into how to develop the site in a way to help the Town Centre.  I think all Brent libraries have this potential to some extent, with Willesden and Wembley being perhaps the best examples.  I like the way the author is trying to get the open space to fit in with the buildings and be part of a wider vision for the future of Ealing Road in what he calls a "gem chain strategy".

The picture above shows a kind of stylised Ealing Road with the library as one of the gems. The plan for the library itself is to have two wings, one with a cafe and one with some sort of " rentable community and enterprise hub".

The space between is a courtyard that can be used for outdoor events. According to the developer: "The public space will be truly public and accessible to all. The intention of the space is that for the majority of the week the space will act as an informal gathering and meeting space with adequate permanent public seating and cycle parking to service the existing library function and support the proposed new uses. The cafe will use the space for outdoor seating with furniture that is removed in the evenings. The library might also choose to run some of its activities in the space from time to time."

 The whole thing is an interesting concept, and would help connect the public building to the public realm in an interesting way.  I hope the designer, Mark Projects, doesn't mind me using both photo above and his rather old school model:

Further details can be found here. 

Tory Shambles at Brent Council

The shambles of the Brent Tories continues.  Half the Tory councillors in Brent are now deselected.  Does the group really merit having a leader, deputy leader and whip for a group of only three councillors?  Do they still get an office and a political assistant?

UPDATE (2.11.16)
It seems that there was more to this story than I immediately realised.

Reviewing Kilburn Plans

The next Brent Council Cabinet has important documents on South Kilburn.  Among other things these include changes to the Carlton and Granville Centres, which have generated controversy.  Some controversy on such matters is, I suppose, inevitable. 

Yet I can't help but feel that the Council should be concerned at its failure to engage the public, or indeed their elected representatives.  I have remarked this before.  I am sure that some of the reasons for this are understandable.  Putting these questions in an accessible format is not easy, and people often have other things to do than respond to Council consultations, but in a situation when even the local councillors feel somewhat removed form the process surely something is wrong somewhere? 

Inconsistent Parking Policy

Predictably, former Cllr Paul Lorber is attacking Brent Council's parking policies here.  Cllr Southwood explains the broad reasoning behind the strategy.  Essentially the reasons for the charges (and the whole principle of regulation) are to do with the need to regulate traffic, rationing very limited space and environmental benefits particularly in terms of air quality.  Before winning office in 2006, Paul Lorber and Liberal Democrat colleagues were promising free CPZ parking, a promise they reneged on in office. 

However, if the Council supports the use of charges, and very steep rises in charges, for the purposes cited, how does that square with the free parking policy at certain sites in the run up to Christmas?  Doesn't that encourage car use in the way that raising car parking charges is designed to discourage?  Isn't following both policies at once rather contradictory?

In fact, I don't believe that the free parking policy is going to be much use to Brent Town Centres, and my reasons are these:

• When I was looking at changes to Harlesden Town Centre, I was assured that only about 15% of shoppers to an average London Town Centre came by car.  Most travel on foot or by public transport.
• To some extent, the free parking policy will encourage negative factors such as poor air quality and traffic congestion that make the centres less attractive to shop in.
•  Thirdly, the free parking only forms an attraction where there are Council parks that are part of the scheme.  Places like Kilburn High Road lose out from any supposed benefit because it has no Council owned park.

It all seems to be a rather unclear set of policies.

Willesden Library Debacle?

Several points come out from a recent account of a Willesden Connects meeting here.  A small group of Chandos Road residents are unhappy about highway works in their road under the policy change I referred to here.

Essentially, in what I guess is a largely savings driven exercise, Brent committed to greater use of tarmac to replace paving.  There are circumstances, such as where there a large number of trees, where this may give a better walking surface.  Anyone familiar with the extremely uneven paving of Furness Road pavements will know what I mean.  This kind of unevenness if often the result of  tree roots.  The description is not very clear.  It implies that all the trees are being destroyed, although Brent's policy as far as I know is to replace trees one for one as close to the original tree as possible.  Of course, this will generally be with a younger tree and often involves  a different species either to avoid subsidence or because a different species is judged to have a greater chance of survival.

The report also includes a personalised attack on Cllr Janice Long implying that she doesn't take an interest in highway matters, although she is actually the Brent councillor with the greatest knowledge of and interest in highway matters on Brent Council.

The report is also notable for suggesting that Cllr Butt disclaimed knowledge or responsibility for the policy.  As I have observed before, this is his standard approach.  I am more surprised to find people accepting it apparently at face value when several previous episodes suggest that Cllr Butt simply agrees with whoever he is speaking to at the time.  In this case, his audience said they didn't like the surfacing and he played along.  Apparently his interlocutors don't notice that in previous meeting he has been one of the people voting through the policy they disagree with.

Willesden Green Library
However, what really caught my eye in the piece is the reference to the "Willesden Green Library debacle".  I would guess this phrase comes from Martin Redstone, who is a member of the tarmac group and a lead opponent of the new Library at Willesden Green.as well as a long term critic of any changes to Dollis Hill House.

How could Willesden Green Library reasonably be described as a debacle?  In terms of the library user visits and loans are up, as is public satisfaction.  A number of the objections to the building have been proved to be untrue, and the objectors don't seem keen on returning to them.  

Moving beyond the library, I would say the permanent exhibition is impressive.  The recent Grunwick exhibition strikes me as just the sort of display that a good local history museum should aim at.  There is also the archive service, which is a service available in fewer and fewer Boroughs, since (like the Museum) it is non-statutory.

The spaces around the Library proper have hosted a broad range of film, dance, theatre and other events, including a number of book readings.  Some of this is referred to on the Libraries Taskforce web site.  There is also a good range of exhibitions in the art gallery.  To my mind, all this vindicates the Libraries Transformation Project, and I really don't see how any one can refer to it as a debacle.  

Driving in Parks

I have discovered the reasons for the new kissing gates into King Edward VII park.  Apparently, it is to prevent moped drivers from using the park as a cut through.  It reminds me that several years ago, car drivers would also drive through between the Sports centre and Treetops nursery.  Why can't people see that is not something you should do in a public park?

Brent Libraries Finally Blowing its Own Trumpet

I am glad to see that Brent Library Service is blowing its own trumpet on the web site of the Libraries Task force.  In my view, Brent Libraries don't do that enough.  The piece concerns the wider promotion of arts in public libraries and Willesden Library in particular.  This was an important part of the Libraries Transformation Project, which liberated the Culture service to expand in new ways.

As well as being valuable in themselves, these services help to bring the libraries into use for more traditional purposes, the promotion of reading and writing.  Just as with the libraries' digital offer, this is too often seen as a zero sum game whereas these other activities can actually bring people into libraries who might not normally go. 

Why are Bigger Libraries Better?

I have suggested that, at least for urban areas with good transport links, fewer but bigger libraries tend to be better.  This goes against the grain of many people, who want as many library buildings as possible.  It also has not been a policy generally pursued.  I suspect because of the sheer controversy associated with consolidating the numbers of libraries, many authorities, such as Lambeth and Islington have gone to great lengths to keep their buildings open.

Let us look at the example of Willesden Library, which has sixty odd PCs.  Some of these are drop in, some are bookable, and some have special facilities such as scanners.  If you go into a building with that many PCs, the chances are some will be free at any one time.  If the same number of PCs were scattered across more than one building, your chances of turning up and finding all the PCs occupied would be greater.  Where you are looking at specialist equipment such as accessibility software or scanners the total number in even a big library like Willesden might be quite small.  If a smaller library has such facilities at all, there may be only one PC available when you want to use it.  In that sense the bigger library becomes inherently more accessible.

A similar logic applies to book stock.  The bigger library is more likely to have multiple copies of a given book, so that if demand is enormous (for say text books in the run up to exams), the bigger library is more likely to have them to hand. 

This is also true if there are break downs.  If say a printer gets broken, the big library with multiple printers can help you get round that.  A smaller library with only one would just have to wait for an engineer.

Islington
When we were going through our Libraries Transformation Project in 2010/11, it was pointed out to me that Islington was keeping a dozen libraries open in six sets of pairs.  Each pair would keep a library open three days a week and the pairs would alternate.  That is ingenuous in terms of avoiding building closure, but doesn't make the maximum use of resources since half the PCs and books would be in a closed library half the time.

Other Advantages
Another advantage of bigger libraries is that the wider number of activities in a bigger library such as Willesden can draw in a bigger audience, and the sheer size of the building has greater flexibility, so you get more flexibility for different activities.  For instance a noisy children's group can take place simultaneously with quiet study on the top floor.  That is harder if the space is constricted.

Nationalisation and Privatisation

I remarked a while ago on the phantom privatisation of Council Housing in the shapes of ALMOs, it is equally striking how little comments there has been on the nationalisation of housing associations by the present Conservative government. 

What is striking about this is that it was just announced by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) one day that Housing Associations had become public corporations.  A useful paper from Northern Ireland explains the process.  I think the ONS were quite right.  If the government starts telling you that you have to sell off your assets, how you reinvest the capital, what rents you can charge and so on you are effectively nationalised. 

Nonwtheless, no one seems to have publicly reacted to this new fact.  I suspect the Tory ministers that did it literally had no idea what they were doing.  Given that their great objective since election in 2010 was supposed to be getting getting public debt down, the effect of taking on the liabilities of the Housing Associations on to the public books is pretty embarrassing.  I would have though just wiping out the business plans of these organisations at a stroke also sat very ill with traditional Tory philosophy.  It must be the biggest nationalisation since Stephen Byers took over Network Rail, maybe bigger.

The Labour Party has also been surprisingly reticent on the subject, but even more striking has been the silence of the Hard Left.  It is, after all, an indication that the problems of a sector don't necessarily just fall away with a change of ownership.

Helen Milner and Digital Engagement

Some of the commentary on Helen Milner's views on library strategy appears to be unaware of how involved she is in the sector.  A recent report from her organisation on digital involvement and public libraries can be downloaded here.

A Modern Mission for Libraries

Helen Milner of the Tinder Foundation has rather bravely suggested that public libraries have to move on from the "never close a library position".  For that she deserves praise, and she gets a balanced review from Public Libraries News which first alerted me to her post.  It is striking how the public libraries debate has never moved beyond demands that Building X should never close, or it sometimes feels, even change.

Helen sees another side of things, where must be acutely aware of the need for a large part of the population to engage digitally.  Failure to do so risks greater social division and lack of opportunity as both public and private organisations are increasingly organised around digital technology.

Libraries can play a huge role in meeting these needs, but too often seem to get bogged down in autobiographical arguments about some celebrities' childhood.

Brent's Libraries Transformation Project was a serious attempt to tackle these issues at a local level, and one that was markedly successful. 

Why Aren't Local Authority Libraries Better?
Why don't more authorities do this if it is so important?  I suspect that is down to a combination of failing to understand how modern libraries can feed into a digital agenda; the fierce resistance of a vocal minority and sheer lack of ambition.

The first of these is summed by those celebrities.  Time and again, I have read articles and interviews that speak nostalgically about childhood in a public library but seem to have no awareness of how libraries can be used to broaden peoples' access to knowledge, which was their original Victorian purpose.  One can also read a minority of articles arguing libraries are redundant.  Again, this is based on the assumption that they have no capacity for change.  Essentially, one has to get across the argument that the modern version of the traditional mission of encouraging people to read (and write) now includes reading and writing digitally.  That means making modern IT and forms of social media less frightening for many people, making other people more aware of technology's limitations as well as possibilities and also how to navigate online in what can be quite basic ways.  That is a really big, bold mission which public libraries are uniquely placed to perform and it is not widely realised.

The second strand here that is actually becoming an obstacle here is the vocal campaigns that always seem to be framed in terms of the status quo.  Helen Milner is right to try to say the starting point should be what are the strategic aims of a library service and how might it achieve them.  I would not quite start with a blank piece of paper as she suggests, but an awareness of how society has changed since the libraries were built might be useful.  That means where the population is, how people get around, what they expect of services, how they access what they need and all sorts of other things.

That kind of analysis seems to get blanked out by two other things.  One is a kind of "just say No" approach.  In Brent, we saw campaign groups shouting (often literally) that there must be no change of any kind.  That is actually an oddly authoritarian position.  It assumes that whoever made decisions in the past chose not just the best distribution of resources for that moment but also for all time.  In a case like Brent, where some groups have devoted huge energy to denouncing public libraries as a total disaster, I think some people find themselves psychologically unable to accept any evidence of success, including the opinions of people who actually use libraries.  That seems a great pity, coming from people whose very desire to defend libraries has led them where they are now.

The second area which I think has really played into the decline of the libraries is the idea of volunteers keeping a library open.  This is in many ways an easier option for councillors.  Compared to the rows Brent went through, you can see that keeping a building "open" for shorter hours, but with not much in them is a hell of a lot easier than going through the difficulty of actually reforming a public service with most of the pain immediate but the benefits years down the line, and perhaps invisible even then.  Just quiet piecemeal cutting makes for a much quieter life, and with many councillors under so many other pressures, and often failing to understand the potential of libraries to change the lives of people they represent for the better, you can see why they opt for the quiet life.

Which brings me to the final point.  Local authorities, battered by cuts, are losing the ambition to really shape their areas for the better.  This is true not just of libraries but in general.  Ambitious schemes seem pie in the sky when you struggle to keep your head above water, but sometimes ambitious schemes are the only way to keep your head above water.  Clinging to the safe and reliable as the tide wash over you may be more likely to lead to drowning than a difficult scramble up a cliff.

Dynamism in the Libraries Debate

A comment here wonders what I make of the proposals to reduce Walsall's libraries to just one.  I am no expert on Walsall, but it looks like another local council doing its best to cope with central government cuts that are frankly unsustainable.  George Osborne's economic strategy was counterproductive, constantly missing its targets, and Philip Hammond has been pragmatic enough to accept that.

Provided they have good transport links, urban areas may be in a position to follow a Brent type strategy of fewer buildings open for longer with more in them.  In Brent that has seen both usage and borrowing go up, as well as higher levels of public satisfaction.  This kind of thing has also worked in other praised authorities,  

The other thing that strikes me about the Guardian piece is its similarity to many other pieces I have read.  It is frustrating that journalists appear not to be able to get beyond these staples: cuts to budgets, closures (never any diffrentiation between closing different kinds of library), personal anecdotes about libraries in the past.

The famous legal duty to provide libraries has been effectively rewritten by first the Bailey case and then the Draper case in Lincolnshire.  The Sieghart Review's emphasis on Wifi provision further strenghens the case for IT facilities being considered as part of the overall library provision.  Yet the government still seems to have failed to catch up with these developments. 

Chi Onwuroh had an IT background, and Tom Watson _ who now covers the DCMS portfolio _ is enthusiastic about the digital economy and how it is changing our society.  I would have thought this plays into a pro-library agenda quite easily if only campaigners would engage in a more persuasion orientated mode.

Likewise, I think it a great pity that there is talk about parts of libraries being used as cafes, but this tends to be discussed simply in terms of commercial rents.  Such a use could also have a big impact on how libraries are used more generally.  Hence my frustration at the slow progress in Willesden. 

Then there is a whole other debate about what is a community hub, and how can such things be managed most effectively, which is perhaps a subject for another post.

NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan

Tonight's Brent Council cabinet is going to consider the proposed NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plan for the NHS in this part of London.  The plan strongly implies the closure of various facilities.  Were there a wider public understanding of this, I think it would be hugely controversial, but I suspect the controversy will only start once the individual decisions come in. 

Housing ALMOs

I was interested to read the account given of recent suggestions that Brent's Housing ALMO (Brent Housing Partnership, or BHP) be taken back in house.  The history of these matters is interesting, especially given the contrast between Brent and Camden.

Both Councils were considered to have good housing departments and considered forming ALMOs at the same time.  This was back when the Labour government was making massive investments in local government (about 2003/4).  The debate in Brent Labour Party was pretty short and simple.  The then Lead Member for Housing, Cllr Richard Harrod (now sadly died), told us that if we formed an ALMO Brent would get about £5,000 per property to do them up.  Aside from a few hard left people, everyone thought that was pretty much a no-brainer and we went for it and formed BHP.

In Camden, there was a campaign led by the Camden New Journal telling tenants that this was privatisation and urging rejection.  A referendum by Council tenants rejected the money and the formation of the ALMO.  The tenants were then surprised to learn that without the ALMO, they would get no money and there was a long stand off with central government where the government refused extra money without the formation of an ALMO.  It was one of those episodes where I felt that misinformation (Both the privatisation accusation and the illusion of choice) led to an unnecessary confrontation and a very poor outcome for local tenants.  Eventually, Camden has gone down the route of selling off some of its properties to pay for repairs, which in Brent were done through government grant.

Other authorities, such as Islington, formed an ALMO, took and spent the money, and then took the service back in-house.

It is interesting to read that the tenants at the Brent meeting actually prefer the Brent ALMO in some form.  Possibly BHP should consider a Co-operative model, of which there are many round the country, that would preserve the more democratic ethos that at least that meeting seemed to prefer.

Oddly, I can't seem to find much information through searching the Camden New Journal web site on what was a campaign that arguably swung the decision. 

Grunwick Commemoration at the Brent Musuem

An exhibition commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Grunwick Strike has opened at the Brent Museum.  The strike took place in the mid-70s at what is now Grunwick Place, but was then a photo processing plant by Dollis Hill Tube in Willesden Green ward.

UPDATE

In answer to the comment below, no.  As a matter of fact, at least one of the people credited with organising this event is a very long standing member of Brent Labour Party.  I did however state that we need to be sure that the funds raised towards this cause went to a Grunwick commemoration, not anything else.

Gates into King Edward VII Park

I notice that new types of pedestrian gates have been fitted to King Edward VII park Willesden, although the vehicular access is unchanged.  Why is that?

Brent Council Tax Freeze?

The next Brent Council Cabinet will be considering budget proposals.  As in previous years under Cllr Butt's leadership, there appears to have been fairly limited discussion of these within the Labour Group.  This is rather a failing since the Budget underlies all the Council's activities.

Just concentrating on the Council Tax issue for the moment.  The report, under paragraph 5.4 proposes to consult on the projected increases in 2017/18 and 2018/19.  Since the current proposals are for the maximum possible rise that can reasonably be obtained, that can only mean a potential limit to the rise or perhaps a freeze.  I have noted before that this effectively destroys the Council's finances in future years.  Cllr Muhammed Butt has in the past been a strong advocate of freezing the Council Tax, apart from for the very poorest in Brent, where he favoured one of the steepest Council Tax rises in London.  He was so intent on freezing Council Tax that he ignored a majority Labour Group vote on the issue.  I don't know if this was related to Cllr Mikey Pavey's resignation, but the members of the Labour Group will need to be on the look out that they are not ignored again. 

A Dumped Car in Kilburn

At the weekend I saw a dumped car outside the former RSPCA Animal War Memeroial Dispensary in South Kilburn.

I haven't seen one of those in Brent for years.  They used to be very common, but EU regulations promoting recycling and rising metal prices saw them disappear.  This one is blocking a disabled parking space so I hope it gets moved as quickly as possible.

Predictable Problems at Brent Community Libraries

I have been reading the recently available minutes of the last Brent Cabinet meeting.  They read like a group of people each of whom, is desperate not to say to say "no" to the Preston group but all of whom are at some level uneasily aware of the problems around fiduciary duty and asset of community value at the Preston Annex site. 

It is striking to see how some of the obvious trends coming to pass as I predicted.  I see that Mr Bromberg made a direct link between supposed peppercorn rents at allotments, and the use of a peppercorn rent at the Preston building.  I would have thought that the comparison between an allotment and a fairly substantial building is quite different.  I wasn't aware that allotments had peppercorn rents anymore.  My memory is that the allotment strategy introduced charging which the users certainly did not feel was negligible.  The new fees were part of the effort to control the ever rising waiting lists that we had identified, an effort that was successful. 

I also note that there is already an effort to spread whatever is done at Barham, and then at Preston to Kensal Rise.  These three buildings all have quite different circumstances of course, with Kensal Rise not having any Council involvement at all.  Nonetheless, it isn't hard to foresee that any deal for one group will lead numerous other groups to complain that they are not being treated in the same way. 

This situation is being obviously mismanaged by Cllr Butt and will lead to another Dollis Hill House saga, although in this case one spread across multiple sites all over the Borough.

Brent's Constant Library Growth Draws to a Close

Time to look at the half year figures for Brent Library Visits and Loans.  The most recent full year statistics are here. 

There were 1,204,502 visits in the half year up to the end of September 2016, and 532,754 issues.  That is growth of 0.4% in visits and zero growth in issues.  It therefore seems that the remarkable run of year on year growth of Brent libraries is about to end.  Possibly the full year figures will be lower this year.  While the first quarter was very strong thanks largely to the improvement at Willesden Library, the second quarter was much weaker and wiped out the gain earlier in the year. 

At some point this was inevitable, and it was hinted at in earlier reports.

Kensal Green Graffiti

I am glad to see that the graffiti I noticed some days ago at Kensal Green Tube station has been cleaned off. 

Cllr Mike Pavey Resigns

News reaches me that Cllr Mike Pavey has resigned from the Brent Council Executive, citing incompability with Cllr Butt.  It is highly unusual for councillors to resign from the Executive in this way.  The last example was Cllr Perrin in 2014, again because of incompatibility with Cllr Butt. I can't recall any such case before then.

Since becoming leader four and a bit years ago Cllr Butt has got through three Chief Executives, virtually the entire senior officer team, numerous members of the Executive, including three deputies, at least five political assistants, and half a dozen Labour Party organisers.  The recent report investigating his conduct remarked on the "evident animosity" between Cllr Butt and the London Labour Party.

As the Labour Group gathers for its Budget away day tomorrow, perhaps they should reflect on that.

Parks as a Statutory Service

I have just walked through King Edward VII park (Willesden), which was full of the stuff that you would expect on a sunny Sunday morning _ people playing football, dog walkers, joggers.  Some people think parks would be secured if they were made into a statutory service, like public libraries.  They feel this would safeguard parks against cuts in funding. 

In fact, as with libraries, I doubt that this would be the case.  So long as local authorities are seeing the kinds of cuts to total budgets that Labour areas are seeing, ways will have to be found to balance the budget.  Increasingly, making things more efficient is getting harder.  The only real way to safeguard such valued services is to increase the funding available to them.