Foxes and Brent Council

I occasionally get enquiries about foxes, and what Brent Council does about them.  As this falls under either the Environmental Health or Animal Welfare parts of my portfolio, I thought a short posting might be advisable.

Brent Council, like most Councils, encourages prevention of fox problems by such measures as secure housing of livestock and not leaving food waste outside.  Unfortunately, suburban housing gives foxes just the mix of foods and cover that they like best. 

Brent Council does not trap or kill foxes as it tends to be expensive and ineffective.  Foxes are territorial and will make their way back to their original patch if left even many kilometres from it.  Killing foxes even in huge numbers would not prevent them breeding, and simply replenishing their populations.  More can be learnt about urban foxes here and here.

Civic Centre Topping Out

The Civic Centre topping out is now complete, with even the weather being co-operative.  It is remarkable to think that this time next year, the centre itself will be fully occupied.

Draft Cemetaries Strategy at Last

It seems ages ago since we initiated a review of cemetaries, but the draft is now an item for discussion in the various Area Forums.  It will feature at the Harlesden Area Consultative Forum (ACF) on 10 July.

Brent Civic Centre Topping Out

Brent Civic Centre is getting its topping out tomorrow, which is a major milestone on the way to completion.  Council workers will only start moving into it between March and June next year.  The new Wembley Library will open there in June 2013, which should create a major boost in the number of people using Brent libraries.

More Tory Cuts

The Guardian gives a rather grim prognosis for local government during LGA Conference week.  The idea of a 20% cut in financing on top of the last rounds of cuts strikes me as impossible to sustain.

Martin Francis Insinuates

Martin Francis insinuates that Brent Council is going to build on Fryent Country Park.  In fact, he must be aware that I have stated that that is absurd, as he commented on the post concerned.  Any attempt to build on urban green space would be fraught with difficulty for the following reasons:

• It would breach the Labour Party's pledge in 2010 to "Continue our long standing policy of protecting public parks and open spaces".  Bizarrely, I think we were the only party to make a pledge like this.  I don't recall the Green Party mentioning the issue.
• It would obviously arouse widespread political opposition outside the Labour Party.
• It would run contrary to Brent and London planning guidance, which both seek to protect open space.
• It would sit uneasily with Brent Council's concerns about promoting public health and physical exercise.

Ironically, the only person I can recall advocating building on green space in Brent is Martin Francis!  I have argued before that this is part of Brent's supposedly environmentalist groupings to oppose environmentalist objectives. 

Turning back to reality, Brent Council is seriously considering rolling up grounds maintenance in a wider cleaning/waste management contract.  This may well save money.  It would also do away with our existing usage of having one set of people to clean parks and a second set to clean grass verges (sometimes even those verges right by parks!).  If that is the way Brent Council decides to go, it would be a very large contract subject to all the usual EU procurement rules.  The staff would also be protected by the standard TUPE laws.

Such arrangements are already in place among a number of London Councils.

Use of Olympic Logos

I have commented before about the strange restrictions that surround use of the Olympics logos. I know that many schools are planning sports events that tie in with the Olympics, so I hope they are careful not to infringe what LOCOG regard as their commercial prerogatives.  This is particularly difficult if there are commercial sponsors of the school event who might be seen as benefiting from the Olympic theme.  Advice can be obtained from LOCOG. 

The picture above should be okay as it was taken before 2012 and therefore relates to a previous games.

More Kensal Green Issues

I should update on a few more ward issues.  Residents at the junction of Rucklidge Avenue and Park Parade may be pleased to learn that a year long dispersal zone is being introduced to try to deal with the anti-social behaviour issues down there. 

The Willesden Social Club development was approved, which should mean that the area attracts fewer undesirables.  In conjunction with the redevelopment of the Green Man, I think this will effectively design out a lot of the problems.

The resurfacing of Wrottesley Road is also now complete, with just some line marking left to do.

Poster at Kensal Green?

I seem to be getting a lot of planning casework recently.  I was tackled in the street about a possible commercial poster near Kensal Green Tube.  The suggested site is on the Network Rail owned land by the Tube Station; the same land that was used by the engineers when they were strengthening the bridge.  It does noes strike me as a good site for a poster either aesthetically or in road safety terms.

New Homes Bonus?

A tale of perverse incentives and playing the system in housing has been uncovered by former minister Nick Raynsford.  Given the scale of this country's housing crisis, it really does feel as if national policy is simply about rearranging the furniture rather than solving the problem.

Keeping Going During the Olympics

Despite a great deal of publicity, I still hear worrying anecdotes that some firms are not prepared for the traffic problems surrounding the Olympics.  There is likely to be disruptio, especially in the area around Wembley Stadium. TfL have been trying to make people aware of this for months, with some help from Brent Council in terms of leafleting and door knocking.  There will be two more roadshows for people in July.

The basic advice is:

• Try to get non-perishable items (e.g. paper) delivered in advance of the games period.
• Where there are perishable items (eg food) try to get deliveries arranged outside peak traffic times
• Understand where the Olympic Road Network (ORN) is, so that it does not disrupt your business
• Encourage staff to work at home during busy times if possible.

More detailed advice can be accessed here.

Electrical Waste

It is reported that there has not been a significant rise in discarded televisions despite the digital switchover in London.  This surprises me.  The figures also show two trends that have become increasingly evident over time.  The first is that the recession is leading to a fall in waste arisings, and the second is that product design is reducing the weight of waste when products are discarded.

Olympic Torch Relay in Brent

I attended a briefing on the Olympic Torch's route through Brent on Monday (I am Lead member for the Olympics).  The route is finalised and there will be a major celebration event in King Edward VII park (the Wembley one).  Some of the street dressing has already gone up, and the rest should be in place by the beginning of July.

A curious sidelight of the Torch's progress I thought was its detour to Dublin.  Under UK law citizens of the Irish Republic are "non foreign" _ the only people to come into that category.  I wonder whether there is any other country where the Torch has done a preliminary visit to an independent country?

Free Legal Advice at Brent Town Hall

Brent's library service is trying out a new online legal advice service.  This will be free to Brent library users in Brent Town Hall library.  Brent Council is working in partnership with Instant Law UK to deliver the service from 10am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday.  It is another of the service enhancements that we are pushing forward as a result of the Libraries Transformation Project.

UPDATE

I should have explained that part of the offer is for secure video conferencing.

Wrottesley Road Resurfacing Underway

I am glad to see that the resurfacing of Wrottesley Road is finally underway.  It should be completed in a couple of days.

More Pictures of Dollis Hill House

I just thought I would add a couple more pictures of Dollis Hill House to yesterday's post.  These show the special kind of paving that English Heritage apparently insisted on.

George Osborne Admits He is Wrong

George Osborne Admits He is Wrong.  No really.  At least that is the logic of his stimulus package as explained by Jonathan Portas.  I think Osborne has actually been moving this way for a while, but I guess you can't admit that your entire economic policy has been totally counter productive.

Energy from Waste Plant

There have been some rumours of a planning application in Ealing not far from the borders of Kensal Green.  There is indeed such an application, for a energy from waste plant.  This obviously raises a number of potential issues around increased traffic and diminished air quality.  Brent Council has already objected.

The actual application details are here.

Dollis Hill House Replacement nears Completion

The replacement structure for Dollis Hill House is nearing completion having been delayed by various gremlines, most recently the wet weather.  The walls are now complete.  Most of the paving is now done.  Access to the cafe area is improved.  There is still some technical issue about which tree species to plant. 

The Stables buil;ding has also had a refurbishment.  Although it is envisaged that it will be a cafe, there will be some requirement for community events to have access there.

Altogether, it strikes me as much better than maintaining a derelict building. 

Police Numbers

The perverse effects of concnetrating on "police numbers" rather than actual outcomes are analysised by Dave Hill here.  He argues that getting rid of support staff has merely caused trained officers to do the jobs that could have been done by cheaper civilans.