Wednesday, November 23, 2011

TENNIS IN ROE GREEN PARK

Sports and Parks Service have submitted a planning application (planning reference 11/2905) for the creation of three tennis courts in Roe Green Park, just south of the existing multi use games area along Kingsbury Road. You can find below the link to the planning application where you can check out the proposals.

http://www.brent.gov.uk/servlet/ep.ext?extId=101150&reference=106140&st=PL

If residents would like to comment on the proposal, please contact the Planning Service case officer, Angus Saunders on 020 8937 5017. Alternatively, you can comment below

Saturday, November 19, 2011

KINGSBURY- POLICE OFFICERS STABBED

It was meant to be a quiet Saturday at my regular Councillor surgery at Kingsbury Library.
Unfortunately it has been marred by a really nasty incident in Kingsbury High Road. I walked down to the scene and a local resident told me “police chased a man into a local shop. It would appear that the attacker ran into a local butchers, grabbed a knife and attacked and stabbed 3 police officers”


The attacker was arrested and is in custody.
I was told 3 or 4 officers had been hurt and been taken to Hospital.


The area has been cordoned off while police officers undertake further investigations.
It is best to avoid the area at present as traffic conditions are very congested.

Cllr George Crane

Thursday, November 17, 2011

controlling dogs in our parks

After many complaints by park users, the Council recently decided to act by regulating 'dog-walkers' and other abuses. Of course, the Council encourages and promotes responsible dog ownership.

We know from a recent walkabout in Fryent Country Park that some commercial 'dog-walkers' have become a real problem. Some have more than ten on leashes which they release creating a mess and posing a worry to many local residents out for a stroll in this wonderful park. It seems that some of these 'dog-walkers' come from as far a field as south London, as many other councils are restricting their numbers.

Dog Control Orders will now be laid in Brent to make it an offence to be in charge of more than six dogs in any of our parks or open spaces. There was some debate as to whether it should be set at four, but it was decided to start with six and review the position after 6 months.

There will also be areas where dogs are not permitted at any time. This applies to all playgrounds and multi-use game areas (eg., in Roe Green Park, tennis courts, netball courts and bowling greens. Obviously, this does not apply to registered blind people and others with disabilities requiring the assistance of trained dogs.

In some of the smaller/pocket parks and areas containing flower beds(eg., Kingsbury Walled Garden),owners will be required to keep their dogs on leads.

The whole arrangement will be reviewed after six months.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Ken's Fare Deal

Ken Livingstone has said today “I will put ordinary Londoner’s first and cut fares if elected in 2012.”
He is proposing to cut fares overall by 5% in 2012 and plans a fares freeze in 2013. Talking to commuters at Wembley Park Tube station this morning they gave Ken a big “thumbs up” for his promise.
(The current Tory Mayor Boris Johnson has planned big increases in January 2012 see our previous blog.)




George Crane

Saturday, November 5, 2011

What price Tube reliability?

Boris Johnson, Tory Mayor of London has announced fares on London transport network will rise by an average of 7% from January 2012.
This will come as a really nasty surprise to commuters living in the Fryent area, already hard pressed with other increases to household budgets. With RPI (retail price increases) only at 5% what justification is there for such staggering increases.
What’s even worse, this week, saw tube chaos on many lines again, including the Jubilee line. Maybe before he puts the fares up the Mayor should concentrate on reliability. The Mayor has an election in just over six months. If he and Transport for London are to convince Londoners that they have the Tube in hand, they need to do better than this.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Executive Greed

A report released last Friday by Income Data Services shows that salaries, bonuses and benefits of Directors at Britain’s top businesses have risen by 49% in the last year. The BBC have stated that “this takes the average pay for a director of a FTSE 100 company to just short of 2.7 million pounds”. At a time when Middle Income earners are being squeezed and those on lower pay are just being battered, it is little wonder that comments like “obscene” and “outrageous” appear in many newspaper reports.

Many of the executives of these top companies sit on each other’s board of directors – little wonder that they all reward themselves massive pay increases. They probably think it’s quite normal. One is only left to wonder how they are allowed to do this. Many company shares are trading lower than in recent years, with no dividend; just what are these Directors doing to earn these rewards? Many Pension Funds are large shareholders and they are suffering from the current economic climate, why can’t they influence Directors pay?

At a time of increasing prices on food and energy, shrinking household budgets, it doesn’t feel fair – does it?

It sounds a bit hollow when we are told by Cameron, Osborne and Clegg “We are all in this together!”

llr George Crane