Highways Planned Maintenance 2018 - 2019

Every year the Council plan Brent’s highways maintenance programme for 2018/19. As we walk around Fryent ward comments on the state of our roads and pavements is one of the highest issues highlighted by residents. We are therefore seeking your suggestions on which roads or pavements should be considered for possible inclusion in next year’s programme.

Your suggestions will help contribute to the preparation of a list of streets, where there is a compelling case for either the roads and/or pavements to be renewed. This list is primarily based on condition data obtained through independent surveys that consider the structural as well as visual state. This also means that resident views will also be considered.

In 2016 the Council took a decision to use asphalt as the default material for resurfacing pavements, with flexibility in conservation areas. Concrete block paving will continue to be used for driveways and street corners. Some pavements in Fryent have received this treatment and we have found residents are generally in favour of this approach. The Council is also adopting a new innovative way of dealing with pot holes.

With miles and miles of pavements and roads it is not be possible to include all nominated streets. We would need over 100 million pounds to tackle all the required maintenance. However, the Council will keep a record for consideration as part of our short sections and patching programmes, which are designed to tackle smaller areas (not whole streets) to be reviewed later in 2018.

We need responses no later than Friday 19th January to send to the Council for inclusion in the surveys. You can comment on this post or send a separate e mail with photos.

Fryent Councillors, George Crane, Ruth Moher and Shama Tatler, 

Local schools to suffer from Government funding cuts.

Guest blog from Paul - a Fryent resident and teacher.

In the budget Philip Hammond failed schools. 

His budget offers no relief and no certainty for headteachers struggling to plug the gap in school budgets. 

As headteachers pour over their budgets and are forced to make difficult decisions, the Chancellor is ducking his responsibility to our nation's schools. 

Here's a summary on the latest on School Cuts

In our local schools every single school has been cut. The figures are these: 

Oliver Goldsmiths -£315 per year per child

Fryent -£159 per child per year

Robert Southwell -£365 per child per year

Kingsbury Green -£423 per child per year

Roe Green -£617 per child per year (!)

Kingsbury High School - £537 per child per year.

You can find out more at www.schoolcuts.org.uk. If you are interested in working with other parents to reverse these cuts contact http://www.fairfundingforallschools.org/

We welcome guest blogs from Fryent residents and these are published on the understanding that we may or may not agree with the contents. 

Please contact us if you wish to respond to the debate or publish a new blog item.

Fryent Councillors.

LED's TO LIGHT UP FRYENT

Work is expected to start in late November 2017 to replace street lights in Fryent. New energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) lanterns will replace the artificial sodium lamps.
The new LED street lights will provide a more natural light, often described as daylight light, rather than the existing orange lamps. The new lights will save money as they use less electricity and will reduce carbon emissions. Residents should note that only the lamp head will be replaced not the whole column.
A webpage with more information is available at www.brent.gov.uk/streetlights.

Fryent Cllr
George Crane

KINGSBURY TOWN CENTRE - PROPOSED PUBLIC REALM IMPROVEMENT SCHEME

Back in March 2017 Brent Council consulted on Kingsbury Town Centre improvement scheme. 

(See earlier post) Although the proposed improvements were supported, during the consultation period we received a number of comments and suggestions from local businesses, residents, as well as other stakeholders such as London Buses and Brent cyclists. As your ward Councillors we met with Council officers together with Queensbury Councillors as this scheme covers two wards. The Council has tried to encompass as many of your comments and suggestions. The Council has also managed to secure additional funding to develop an alternative scheme which addresses these comments and concerns. The Council is therefore consulting again on revised proposals. These proposals align with the aspirations of the Imagine Kingsbury study which set out the community’s vision for improving Kingsbury Town Centre over the next 5 -15 years.

Some of the consultation document is copied below and a link to the full proposal can be found at the end.

What are the proposed improvements?

 The proposed improvements are summarised below;

• Reorganised and de-cluttered footway and reconstruction

• Multi-purpose verge for trees, street furniture, etc.

• Additional formal and informal pedestrian crossing facilities

• New tree planting

• New suite of street furniture

• Improved street lighting and signage

• 1.5-meter cycle tracks on each side separating cyclists and vehicular traffic, and new cycle parking

• Redesigned parking and loading facilities

• Road resurfacing

• 20mph speed limit

• Two new raised speed tables and one new raised zebra crossing

• A provision of an Electrical Vehicle Charging Point (EVCP) with a dedicated parking bay

There will a Public Exhibition in Kingsbury Library, 522-524 Kingsbury Road NW9 to be held on;

   Thursday 9th, Friday 10th and Saturday 11th November while the Library is open.

Your views are really important, response to this consultation must be submitted by 1st December 2017. The scheme is designed to be implemented in two phases. If agreed the first phase will start in January 2018 on the southern side or odd numbers on Kingsbury Road. The second phase will start when phase one is completed.

The whole scheme is likely to take about 15 months and there will be some delays and traffic congestion and reductions in some of the existing parking arrangements during the improvement works.

A very detailed map and plan describing the layout can be seen if you follow this link: http://brent-consult.objective.co.uk/portal/ens/htdel/kingsbury_tc_oct_2017

You can also complete the consultation questionnaires on line but responses will only be considered from within the consultation area.

Fryent Councillors  George Crane, Shama Tatler and Ruth Moher

Community Clean Up Day - SUNDAY 5th NOVEMBER

Brent Council Leader, Muhammad Butt, thanked the many local residents from the Springfield Estate in Kingsbury NW9 who turned out to support our Community Clean Up day.

It was a fantastic sunny morning and Fryent Councillors also thanked Veolia for practical support with plastic bags, gloves and litter pickers. We split into groups to tackle areas suggested as hot spots from residents.

The photos tell the story but residents said they "Love Where We Live" and want to make a difference against the anti-social behaviour of a small minority. However there is a more serious side to this event. The alley that was cleared was a public footpath between Springfield Gardens and Hill View Gardens. It had clearly not been cleared for a long time; residents questioned who monitors the contractors that are paid with their Council Tax. The other issue was 90% of the blue bags we collected could and should have been recycled. What possesses people to just throw away drinks cans, papers, take away cartons, when they could be taken home and put in a recycled bin? This was mirrored in others parts of the area from the other group of residents.

We did welcome and thank the Veolia UK staff member who spent her Sunday putting recycling leaflets through doors in the area - let's hope that this will make a difference.

Community Clean Up Day

Community Clean Up Day - Can you join us? THIS SUNDAY 5th NOVEMBER

Many residents of Fryent tell us they despair at the litter and rubbish dropped by people with no concern for the environment of where they live.

Do you Love Where You Live, then join us on Sunday 5th November on the Springfield Estate, Kingsbury NW9. Together with some local residents and supported by Veolia we are going to try and make a small difference. 

We are meeting at 11.30am at the junction of Springfield Gardens and Coniston Gardens this Sunday. We would love to meet you and your neighbours.

Can you spare - just an hour of your time to help make a difference?

Fryent Councillors and Springfield Residents.

Help Brent Council Spend CIL in your Neighbourhood

Brent Council needs your help to decide priorities in spending CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy)

What is CIL, you ask?  When developers receive planning permission for some larger, new developments, they're required to make a payment to the council. This helps fund local infrastructure improvements. This payment is called Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). Of this, between 15-25% of the funds has to be allocated by the Council as Neighbourhood CIL.

You can find out much more by clicking on the link below:


To streamline the running of Neighbourhood CIL in the borough, Brent has been divided into five local areas: Harlesden, Kilburn, Kingsbury and Kenton, Wembley and Willesden. These are large enough to generate funds that can deliver relatively big projects if this is what the community decides the funds should be spent on. The areas are, however, also  small enough to encourage communities to feel they are likely to benefit from the projects that are delivered. Ultimately, the decision on what to spend the funds on still rests with the council, but we will provide clear feedback on how we have come to any decisions.


What sort of things can be funded? They will need to be a benefit to the community, the projects could be delivered by voluntary organisations. On the basis of feedback received from this consultation, the council will decide how to prioritise spending on particular Neighbourhood CIL funded projects. Projects could be delivered by the council if they relate to council assets, e.g. a park. The council could also deliver projects that are good ideas, but where no other body came forward to deliver them.

So have you any ideas - get those thinking caps on; the consultation is due to close soon and Kingsbury needs more money for community projects. Alternatively you can talk to use about ideas.

Fryent Councillors, Shama Tatler, Ruth Moher and George Crane

http://brent-consult.objective.co.uk/portal/regen__growth/pr/brent_neighbourhood_cil_priorities_2017-2020

Kingsbury Road - Public Realm Improvement consultation

The council is proposing to introduce a Public Realm Improvements Scheme in Kingsbury Town Centre between Kingsbury roundabout and Valley Drive. The proposed scheme will include: A new 20 mph Zone, footway renewal, new Cycle lane, new parking and loading arrangements, new crossing facilities and new street furniture including trees, seats, benches and Cycle stands.

The consultation is open until 7th April and to view the scheme you need to log on to the Brent Council web site or use this link:http://brent-consult.objective.co.uk/portal/ens/htdel/kingsbury_town_centre?tab=info

The scheme if approved will probably take about 12 months to complete and will be programmed in two phases - Phase 1 South Side (odd numbers) followed by phase 2 North side (even numbers).

The scheme is a  version of the previous application which was unsuccesful for funding last year. The Council have allocatted a smaller sum of money to take forward some of the previous public realm plans.

The views of residents and business in the area is really important, if you want to comment please use the link above.

Fryent Councillors