Willesden Wassail

Businesses including a Polish restaurant and a shoe shop were blessed and sang to by residents as part of an ancient ritual re-created in Willesden Green again last weekend. Residents were joined by a team of spoken word artists, led by Rachel Rose-Reid, as they marched down the High Road to honour their local food providers. Wassailing is a tradition dating back to pre-Christian times in which a group of people sang a traditional winter song to their weather-beaten apple trees in order to encourage a good harvest. Artists joining included Muslim hip-hop duo Poetic Pilgrimage and Willesden Green Vocality Choir. When the march reached the library centre, “Transition Town Willesden” provided a special Wassail punch made from locally picked apples.

Snubbed by London’s Mayor?

We have been pleased to be included in the London Mayor’s Outer London Regeneration Fund and to receive around half a million to help regenerate Willesden Green with projects such as refurbishing empty shop units to help emerging businesses. Brent put in a bid for 1.65 million to continue the successful work started in the High Road. It was therefore a surprise to see that both of Brent Council’s second bids have been refused, ignoring the needs of outer London’s most diverse borough. The second bid was for 1.8 million for Ealing Road between Wembley Central and Alperton. The programme was designed to promote Ealing Road to deliver physical, economic social and cultural benefits to Ealing Road, Wembley and Brent. My colleague, Cllr George Crane, Lead member for Regeneration, said he found it difficult to understand why all our neighbouring boroughs have received money and why Brent has been singled out to have both projects rejected. 

Speedy court decision

Objectors to Surrey County Council's proposal to pass the management of some libraries to volunteers applied to the court for a judicial review.  To their surprise, the judge issued an injunction much quicker than expected and the Council has two weeks to serve its evidence to the High Court, which would then decide whether the case should go to a judicial review. Brent's recent experience of court responses is very different as all parties involved have had weeks and months to wait for decisions.

Willesden Police Station

Got a call from a journalist wanting a view on the possibility of WIllesden Police Station closing. This is not a new item as I first heard about it in 2008 when the Met Police had a review of assets. The argument for closure has always been that the building is not fit for the purpose of modern policing and together with budget cuts, this is likely to remain the strongest argument against it staying open. The then Deputy Commissioner, Tim Goodwin, I quoted in my blog at the time (18/09/2008).  He said at the time that they needed to save £48m. The force was facing "considerable pressure" which could see "unfit" police stations and custody suites replaced with front counters. Mark Toland, then Borough Commander, said there would be no closures before a suitable replacement building is fully established.  For Harlesden and Willesden these new  buildings need to be in high profile areas and readily accessible to local people. If there's a stark choice, I would rather see officer numbers maintained rather than unfit buildings and suspect this would be a view shared by a number of Willesden residents. Don't think buildings are the main issue. As I said to the journalist, the main issue should be the ease of access to the police at a local site and the quality of service received.  There may be yet another "campaign" by opposition groups: we have had a few from saving post offices to saving festivals and police stations. Generated a lot of publicity but 'saved' nothing that I can recall. 

"Tell Us Once" service

Brent has launched a new service to reduce the burden of dealing with bureaucracy and paperwork for residents who experience the loss of a loved one. Tell Us Once means that when a resident registers the death of a family member with Brent Council's Registration and Nationality Service, the information is then shared.  The initiative allows information about a death to be shared automatically by the Registrar with departments administering records for Blue Badges, libraries, council tax, pensions, housing benefit, passports, and driving licences, ensuring they are up-to-date. Information will not be shared without the consent of the person registering.  Those using Tell Us Once need to provide information about the person who has died such as date of birth, national insurance number, or death certificate when they register a death which should be within 5 days after death.

'New Windows on Willesden'

'New Windows on Willesden' is a short term Brent Council initiative to help regenerate Willesden High Road with the aim of stimulating the local economy, reducing unemployment and attracting new visitors. It is being funded by the Mayor's Outer London Fund and delivered by the Architecture Foundation. Further information can be found at:


http://www.brent.gov.uk/home.nsf/news/LBB-1546


http://willesdenwindows.com/

Recycling mattresses

Visited the reuse and recycling centre this week to deposit some of my own recycling. Discovered that it is even possible to recycling mattresses and that the centre has a skip for mattress deposits. Apparently they are stripped down primarily for the metal springs.  Bed bases and mattresses seem to be the main item for dumping in front gardens and on pavements, when a call to the council for a free collection (020 8937 5050) would mean the mattress could be recycled, when mattresses left dumped on a pavement would probably be rejected as contaminated.

Safety Award

Brent Council has been given the National Transport Award as best authority for road safety, traffic management & enforcement.  This is a tribute to the huge reduction in traffic accidents in the Borough over the past few years. It demonstrates how seriously we take road safety.

Willesden Sports Centre's 5th 'birthday'

Good to visit the Willesden Sports Centre on it's birthday. Was very involved in its planning when lead member for the environment.  Lots of worries along the way mostly to do with funding. I remember being involved in the 'topping our' ceremony. It was suggested at the beginning of the planning process that it should be built alongside the existing centre and to return the original site to park land when completed. Local residents were against this so the centre was closed and out of action for around 2 years. Pity, as it would have worked. Centre now provides a valuable facility for local people and well worth the efforts made at the time.

Refurbished play area for Unity Close

The planning application for the refurbishing of the playground in Unity Close has been posted. Thus is a long overdue refurbishment welcomed by residents. The application is submitted by Stadium Housing, one of the housing associations managing the estate. The proposal is to install a multi-use games area (MUGA) with 3m high boundary fence, a new play area and alterations and proposed new path, seating and planting area to form an attractive seating area for older residents. Willesden councillors will make a contribution to the cost from the Willesden Ward Working scheme.