Chapter Road development completed

The opening ceremony of the Grunwick Place development at Chapter/ Cooper Road, took place on Friday 22 June. The development comprising four, 5-storey blocks of residential units, has been completed by Durkan‘s Specialist  Works Division on behalf of Brent Housing Partnership, after a 4-year gap when the building works stalled  when a  previous contractor  went into  receivership. The site is of historical significance as it is where the ‘Grunwick  Dispute’ took place between 1976 – 1978.  The Dispute ‘was a long  running industrial dispute involving trade union recognition at the Grunwick Film Processing Labs in Willesden. Led by the late Jayaben Desai, a group of mostly female, immigrant, East African Asian strikers were dubbed “strikers in saris” by the news media.  To commemorate the long running dispute and the workers’ leader Mrs Desai, a plaque has been erected on the new pedestrian route and cycleway.