Ward Working Walkabout

We had a very successful Ward Working walkabout on Sat 18^th June. We were joined by Vik Mistry from Brent Council and Edward Oniba from the Fryent Safer Neighbourhood Team.

We met in Kingsbury High Road and spoke to residents and traders about recent thefts of gold chains. These are opportunistic robberies and the Safer Neighbourhood teams are very vigilant in the area.  Don’t wear Gold Chains to go shopping unless really necessary, and certainly keep concealed.

We will report areas that we considered needed attention regarding poor state of pavements and will ask streetcare to attend to some fly tipping that we noticed.

Thanks to those residents that found time to meet us during the walkabout, it’s always interesting to get feedback about how the area is perceived.  

If you missed us on the day you can always sign in and post a comment and we will get back to you.

George, Jim and Ruth.

Fryent Councillors.

The Village School

As a result of concerns expressed  from local residents Jim Moher and George Crane, your Fryent Councillors, met Brent Council Regeneration Team and the appointed Village School contractors, Leadbitters, to present concerns and clarify plans.  The Head Teacher of the Village School, Kay Johnson, joined us for the meeting.

We discussed the building programme, community consultation and managing traffic. There has been considerable discussion and extensive consultation on the complicated subject of managing traffic both at Kingsbury High school and Grove Park sites. 

To progress the rebuilding of the school, work has begun on the temporary building at Kingsbury High School and is due for completion at the end of August for the next academic year. Further discussions are planned with the Council Transportation and Planning Teams on traffic management and a travel plan for the school.

The contractors, Leadbitters, have appointed a Community Liaison person to keep residents informed and to respond to any concerns during the project. The contractor will also have a local labour initiative including training and apprenticeships as a boost to the local economy.

Fryent Councillors Walkabout June 18th

Cllr s Ruth, Jim and George are writing to inform you about our Councillors’ Walkabout, on Saturday 18 June 2011.

This walkabout is being organised, in the Fryent ward, as part of Brent Council’s Ward Working initiative. 

Your views are very important to us, as its helps us to improve the way we deliver services to meet your needs.

Walkabouts are also an opportunity for us to see for ourselves what’s happening in the area.

We as Ward Councillors, with council officers, find out from local residents what their concerns are about the local area.

We will then work together with other agencies like the Police and community organisations to draw up an action plan and try to develop solutions to key issues raised.

We will attend the walkabout along with officers from Streetcare, and representatives from the Police Safer Neighbourhoods Team.

The locations are:

·     1pm - outside Kingsbury Post Office, Kingsbury High Road

·     2pm-outside Mcdonaugh’s Public house, 2 Slough Lane

·     3pm –outside St Sebastien and St Pancras RC Church, Hay Lane

·     4pm – at the corner of Coniston Gardens and Kingsbury Road (former Scout Hut).   Followed by walk to Springfield Mount/Edgware Road.   

We tend to spend between 20 and 30 minutes at each venue depending on the number of people to see. Residents will be more than welcome to meet us at the various points above.

We do hope you will be able to come and share your views about your area,

Come and join us!

George, Jim and Ruth - Your Local Councillors

The future of School Crossing Patrols in Brent

The Future of School Crossing Patrols

Brent Council has recently announced a review of the School Crossing Patrol service (SCP), sometimes referred to as Lollipop attendants, due to the shaped coloured banner they hold.

Brent has one of the largest School Crossing Patrol services in London. There are 47 sites covered by SCP,s two of which are in Fryent. One at Fryent School in Church Lane and one at St Robert Southwell School in Slough Lane.

In recent years Brent has been successful in reducing road casualties, especially children. Children killed or seriously injured have reduced from 40+ per annum in the late 1990’s to 11 per annum in 2009, sadly still to many but below both national and London targets. It has to be said that it is difficult to identify any direct contribution of the (SCP) to this reduction. Road casualty reduction has been the result of a combination of activities and initiatives.

RISK EVALUATION

Brent council has devised a model for “risk evaluation” and assessed each SCP location. Some schools may be close to Pelican crossings, be in a 20MPH zone, or simply have a traffic refuge outside the school. 

The results of the evaluation risk model in Fryent would mean that the SCP outside Fryent School would be removed and the SCP outside St Robert Southwell School would be retained.

An alternative option would be for the school to “buy back” the service and cover the annual cost of the SCP, approximately £6000 per annum.

CONSULTATION

Schools are being invited to share the proposals with the wider community, parents and carers. A report will go to the Council Executive in mid July. Details of the proposals will be available on Brent Council website.

The Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 provides that London Boroughs may make arrangements for patrolling school crossings but there is no duty to do so.

So what do residents think? Should your Council Tax pay for School Crossing Patrols? Should the Council only provide for the most risky sites? Be part of the debate.( You can click on  comment or sign in).