Brent Friends of the Earth were unlucky in not getting a place to speak to Full Council on Friday when they debate Healthy Neighbourhoods but this is the position that they generally support on what are more widely known as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods:

Bullet points on Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes:

• Roads have previously been made for cars, not people. We need to change this relationship and give space to people, cyclists and walkers so that we can all travel healthily and in a low carbon way where possible. 
  
• Research shows that LTN doesn’t cause more traffic on other roads: 
• Research shows that low-traffic neighbourhoods do not simply shift traffic from one place to another,  but lead to an overall reduction in the numbers of motor vehicles on roads. There was a 11% reduction in number of vehicles across the whole area where road space for traffic was reduced, including the main roads in a study of 70 areas across 11 Countries.  
• Just one year after the implementation of schemes in Outer London, including Waltham Forest, residents were walking 32 minutes and cycling on average 9 minutes more per week. 
• Points taken from this article, and more information there too.  
• Main roads need changes too, such as 2-way roads becoming 1-way and 20mph zones to reduce air pollution.  
• If there is an adverse increase of traffic on main roads, then road Boulevards can be a solution. These provide wider pavements, space for buses, reduced right turns, more trees and parking restrictions to reduce air pollution from these roads.  
• It’s vital that Councils conduct proper consultation with a wide variety of residents about Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, and issues must be looked at holistically across the area. This can help ensure that residents share their knowledge about where traffic is an issue and what knock-on effects this might have. No community should be disproportionally negatively affected in terms of air pollution.   
• The aim is to reduce the need for cars for short journeys. This can only be achieved with changes to public transport, cycling and walking routes. There is inevitably going to be some teething problems in making these changes, but with affordable public transport and safe cycling and walking routes, this will lead to healthier and safer neighbourhoods. 
• Evaporating traffic? Impact of low-traffic neighbourhoods on main roads - Stats show that LTN doesn’t cause more traffic on others roads, and calls for Boulevards as a solution to main roads 
• Low Traffic Neighbourhoods measures should be introduced as trials then effects can be monitored and changed if necessary  
• Modal shift may take some time to materialise but by reallocating space from cars to walking and cycling it will lead to some traffic evaporation.  
• We need alternatives – eg safe cycling infrastructure on main roads, 2 way becoming 1 way – so everybody gains somehow. There should be measures on main roads too – these will depend on local circumstances but could include protected cycle lanes, one-way systems, safe crossings (20 mph zones? CAZ?) – can we say any more about what this mitigation for residents on main roads already suffering high air pollution could look like?
• Ultimately need more reallocation of roadspace on side roads and main roads to reduce traffic and reduce air pollution. 
• We don’t want to entrench poor air pollution in disproportionately affected communities – should be more in a balance of neighbourhoods 

The news of the ballot delay was announced in a Brent Council press release yesterday.  I would be interested in further details of the first phase which the release says will be on open space and can proceed without a ballot.

PRESS RELEASE

Work is well underway to develop the two options for the future of St Raph’s estate. Despite the huge challenges of Covid-19, residents have been working, virtually, on what infill and redevelopment options might look like ahead of the proposed ballot next year.

Given the uncertainties and possible changes to local Covid restrictions, the Residents Board has agreed that the ballot should take place next year, instead of this Autumn as originally planned. We’re hopeful that this will enable face-to-face conversations to resume, ensuring each household has the chance to fully understand what both options would mean for them.  

In the meantime, the design team will begin work with the community to create detailed designs for the first phase of development. The designs will follow the Community Design Code and will show what new homes could look like, although it won’t be finalised until after the ballot.

The location of the first phase is open space to the south of the estate. It does not involve demolishing any homes and can proceed whatever the outcome of next year’s ballot.

The costs for delivering both infill and redevelopment were also recently carefully reviewed by Brent Council. Both remain affordable but will continue to be monitored, in light of the pandemic.

Cllr Eleanor Southwood, Brent’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform, said:

We’re absolutely committed to delivering what residents want for the future of St Raph’s. Coronavirus has shone a light on the number of households in the borough living in overcrowded homes or temporary accommodation, without access to their own private outdoor space or good quality parks. To make matters worse, many private renters face crippling rents combined with the risk of eviction. It’s vital that we work together with the community to create these much needed new, affordable homes for local people sooner rather than later.

An upcoming virtual exhibition will give residents an opportunity to see each masterplan option for the first time, and to give their feedback. The exhibition will be online for four weeks, from Friday 23 October 2020 until Saturday 28 November 2020.

The council is sending an update to all households on the estate this week. Residents can also get answers to any questions by emailing straphs@brent.gov.uk

Residents are also invited to join weekly virtual drop ins, hosted by Brent Council, independent advisor PPCR and resident board St Raphael’s Voice. Find out the dates, times and joining instructions

 An amendment has been submitted in the name of the Labour Group on Brent Council to the original motion submitted by the 7 members who called for the Extraordinary Council Meeting on Healthy Neighbourhoods. You can watch the debate HERE

BACES City Challenge Adult Education College, with the HCC Community Garden and its sculpture in front, mid-1990s (from the material that Melvyn Leach donated to Brent Archives).

Philip Grant left this comment on a previous post LINK but I thought it was worth publishing in its own right:

I have now seen some of the information that was donated to Brent Archives about the acquisition and refurbishment of 1 Morland Gardens in the 1990s. Here are a few of the highlights from it:

1. Job skills and education training were one of the main themes of the Harlesden's bid for funds from the Government's City Challenge regeneration scheme.

2. BACES already had a strong reputation for its imaginative and innovative approach to adult education, which had received national and international attention.

3. Chassay Architects were first approached by BACES in the Spring of 1993, to find a suitable site for a new adult education college in the Harlesden City Challenge bid area.

4. It was Chassay Architects who recommended 1 Morland Gardens, which 'had been vacant for several years, but neglected for many more. Whilst the original Italianate villa was well built with good quality materials, many of the additions were not.'

5. The villa was on a prominent corner site, with good transport links, and a local landmark building which the Council had Locally Listed because of its importance to the character of the area:- 'The area has a disjointed feel, with the Italianate villa and its leafy surroundings as a symbol of former times to all travelling west on Hillside.'

6.'After much searching, the site at 1 Morland Gardens was found to be the only one suitable, and although not for sale, succesfully purchased. The brief developed from the Client's [BACES] requirements and their vision of the area's needs with the support and encouragement of LB Brent and Harlesden City Challenge.'

7.'With newly relandscaped surroundings, the whole will not only be an outstanding centre, but could become a symbol of a potential future for the area.'

The full webcast can be found HERE

The evidence for a Tweet I sent out during this afternoon's Extraordinary Meeting is Cllr Butt's speech at the meeting is in the video above.  This is what I said:

If Butt's record of dealing with anyone who shows a smidgen of independence is anything to go by we may have to set up a campaign to 'Save the Brent Six' (or Seven). Some people on social media, following the acceptance of the amendment, have already sugegsted they have been 'got at'.

It was fairly clear that not all councillors have much experience of debating but as one councillor said afterwards, 'If we do more of it, we will get better'.

You can listen to the the full meeting on the link above but here are two contributions worth reading although publication does not equal endorsement.

Charlie Fernandes spoke for Brent Cycling Campaign:

I speak as a representative of Brent Cycling Campaign, a campaign to enable active travel, cycling and walking and as a local resident.

I also speak as a voice for the many local residents that regularly approach us. They express they WANT their neighbourhoods to be healthy low traffic neighbourhoods. With fewer cars on the road during the early lockdown months, people saw what was possible.

So I thank Brent Council for introducing low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) during these difficult times. Residents are telling us they want to see these LTNs become fully operational, and they want more LTNs, and they ask us to push the council to do so.

I will now address (1) the consultation process, (2) the urgency, (3) it’s a question of social justice, and (4) the strategic vision.

1.The process. Some have raised concerns about lack of consultation.
Well, the usual pre-consultation method was not working. Proposals may not be plainly obvious to residents when appearing in technical drawings and writing. And however it’s communicated, the actual effects and benefits cannot be realised that way.

Consultations generally get got low engagement, with the louder voices resulting in a very weak compromise, or just giving up and keeping the status quo. Trialling schemes are a natural means to experiment, demonstrating in real life, with sufficient time for people to adapt and see the benefits. Adjustments can still be made during the trial.

2. The urgency. Perhaps you’re thinking: We’ve got a pandemic on. So why the urgency to enable alternatives to cars right now? Well, Brent, with lots of public transport connections, is highly dependent on public transport. But we’re told to avoid public transport as much as possible. So how can people get around?

Half of households in Brent have at lest one car. So I address this in two halves. First, those who have a car. We’re already around pre-lockdown traffic levels. After furlough ends, car use will climb much higher, while public transport continues to be restricted. Road gridlock will quickly become more severe.

And now, the half of Brent residents that do NOT have a car. They’re much more dependent on public transport This is very much the poorer half. Brent has amongst the worst levels of pollution. The polluted areas are also poorer areas. Brent has amongst the highest rates of obesity and diabetes, linked with inactivity and poverty.

So now on point 3. It’s a matter of social justice that everyone should be enabled to get around their local neighbourhood safely and participate in their local communities as vibrantly as anyone else.

By LTNs restricting rat-running, it leads to our neighbourhoods and inside our homes having better air quality, in quiet pleasant healthier neighbourhoods. Older people, disabled people, children, vulnerable people, those that are less mobile, whatever their background, everyone, can more easily roam and make better use of their surroundings. The neighbourhood becomes more of a community space to engage with our neighbours.

A month ago, I attended a local street meeting on Glendale Gardens road. It was only feasible to safely use this space while the barriers were in place preventing through-traffic.

New LTNs in Lambeth and Waltham Forest have led to heart warming stories of children playing outside their own homes for the first time

4. The vision: And while our love grows for LTNs, they’re only part of the solution. People need to be able to travel from their Healthy Low Traffic Neighbourhoods to low traffic town centres and other destinations.

Protected cycle lanes on main roads, provide the connectors. Altogether this creates an environment that truly enables active travel.It leads to attractive scenes such as children cycling in safety to school.

More women cycling, people whatever their background, age or ability, cycling because their local environment has been made safe and inviting for them to.

But they’re not just attractive nice things to see. They’re real people for whom simple changes to their environment has enabled them to lead lifestyles that enhance their physical health and mental health and by switching to avoid using cars, or using cars less, they are reducing the negative impact of cars on others, improving air quality, making the roads safer. And reducing congestion – which in turn also makes it easier for those that are unable to avoid using their cars

The urgency and for the sake of the residents of Brent, the calling is now for progressive active travel.

I thank you for listening. I will conclude with the following point: While the pandemic has made this a memorable moment, let’s craft it so that in future years, the residents of Brent will look back and say, those were the councillors that gave us a healthier neighbourhood.

Cllr Anton Georgiou said:

I am a Liberal Democrat, but first and foremost, I hope like many in this meeting, I am an environmentalist.

I care deeply and passionately about addressing the number one crisis we all face, the climate emergency.

I was proud to see Brent declare a climate emergency last year. But declaring one isn't enough, what is needed to clean the air we breathe, is action.

We must change the way we travel. No doubt, discouraging car use and freeing up our road space for pedestrians and making them safer for more active travel options like cycling is one way - so is pushing for more affordable public transport.

However, the reason for this meeting today is the process by which this adminstration has chosen to follow to get us where we are.

The implemention of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods without thorough consultation both with residnts and key stakeholders, who are experts on this topic, has left many angry and I fear has taken us backwards, Rather than taking residents forwards on a journey of change, this administration has done us harm.

I'm also concerned about the disregard of local Councillors' views and opinions and the shoddy way that we as elected members have been treated. I'm sure the Lead member, Cllr Tatler, will attest to the fact that throughout this process I have sought to engage with her directly and officers to understand what measures they would implement, An example of the poor communication - I emailed the Lead member in August to request an update on a follow up meeting, and changes that might impact Alperton, this was only replied to on Monday October 12th at 1:28am.

 The secretive, closed way that this administration and the Lead member have acted speak to a much wider problem with the culture of the leadership. They do not want to be scrutinised, they do not want to listen, they just want us all to accept their way.

I propose that we urgently set up a Taskforce made up of backbench counillors across this chamber to oversee the next phase of this project and start doing the proper outreach with residents and stakeholders, so that we can get in place the right measures, that will make the most sense, and will lead to what I hope we all want to see, the start of a shift in attitude by all, in the way we travel.

Only then will we begin to tackle the great challenge we face, the climate crisis.

 Cllr Tatler, Lead member responding to the debate said that there was no perfect solution to the climate emergency - none wuld be pain-free. We are consuming resources at a rate that cannot be sustained.  The Healthy Neighbood schemes were the first opportunity for the Council to make a positive impact through testing a range of experimental schemes to unclog our roads. The Council will incorporate successful measures into their eventual scheme - the ones currently running are not the final resolution of the issues.

 The amended  motion was passed with no votes against. The Conservatives abstained stating that they would have voted for the motion without the amendment. (Motions in post below)

Welcome back to this fourth article in the Kilburn local history series. If you missed Part 3, you will find it here.

Railway lines began crossing Kilburn’s land in 1837, with the coming of the London and Birmingham Railway. Kilburn (now High Road) station opened in 1851. In the 1860s Edgware Road (later Brondesbury) station came on the Hampstead Junction Railway, and Kilburn and Brondesbury (Kilburn today) station was opened on the Metropolitan Railway in 1879.

1. Metropolitan Railway Station and Bridge, Kilburn High Road, c.1910. ( www.images-of-london.co.uk )

The earlier railways, however, did not stimulate a large growth in Kilburn. The main developments were still along the Edgware Road, which was served by horse buses and later trams. In 1856 22 omnibuses a day ran to London Bridge and by 1896 south Kilburn was served by over 45 buses an hour. The start of the 20^th century brought a motorbus service to Oxford Circus, and in 1915 Kilburn Park station on the Electric Railway line was the first underground railway in Kilburn.

2. Kilburn Park Underground Station, October 2020. (Photo by Irina Porter)

In Charles Dicken’s Dictionary of London, published in 1879, Kilburn was described as ‘a newly built district at the far end of the Edgware Road’. Its development, beyond a few large houses, had begun in the south, after Lady Salusbury sold her properties to the Church Commissioners in 1856. The following year the Commissioners made a series of agreements with James Bailey, a builder from Maida Vale, who later moved to Brondesbury Lodge. 

In 1859 Bailey had built Brondesbury Terrace and started work in Canterbury Road. By 1867, he had put up about 550 houses, including Cambridge and Oxford Roads, using architectural pattern books, and marketing his development as Kilburn Park. A number of houses he built, along with the Duke of Cambridge and The Brondesbury public houses (both now converted for residential use), are now locally listed buildings within the South Kilburn Conservation Area.

3. Cambridge Road, c.1910. (Image from the internet: www.images-of-london.co.uk )

4. Cambridge Gardens, October 2020. (Photo by Irina Porter)

Other speculative builders followed Bailey to the area. Speculative building – when houses were built before a buyer or a tenant was found – put developers at risk if they over extended themselves, so many went bust. Through the rest of the 19^thcentury, local house building expanded northwards. You can see the extent of development in 1875 (when Willesden Local Board was established, with a population of 18,559), and again by 1895 (when it had become Willesden Urban District, with 79,260 people) on this map.

5. Development in the east of Willesden parish as at 1875 and 1895. (From “The Willesden Survey, 1949”)

By the 1880s, businesses like the United Land Company would purchase plots of land, subdivide them into smaller plots and sell those at auctions, resulting in smaller developers doing the actual building. The names of the roads would often come from old estates in the area (Mapesbury, Brondesbury), or places connected with former landowners. The Salusbury name lives on today, in a road and the school situated on it, as well as a pub, wine store and other local amenities. In another example, the Powell Cottons owned the land on the Shoot Up Hill estate, and the names of the roads there reflected their Kent connections (Fordwych, Minster, and Westbere Roads, etc).

One famous resident of Kilburn was the artist Louis Wain (1860 – 1939), who lived at 41 Brondesbury Road. Louis Wain was famous for the drawings ofanthropomorphized (with human features) cats. Born in Clerkenwell, Wain studied at the West London School of Art, where he was also assistant master. In 1882 he joined the staff of the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News and four years later that of the Illustrated London News. 

When Wain was 20, his father died, and Louis became the main supporter of his mother and five sisters. At 23 he married the family governess, Emily Richardson, who died of cancer within 3 years of their marriage. During her illness the family took in a stray kitten, named Peter, who cheered her up during her illness and gave Louis a direction for his art, which became his passion. From the 1880s onwards Wain’s cats walked upright in human clothing of the highest fashion, came with all sorts of facial expressions, enjoyed smoking, played musical instruments, hosted tea parties, played games, went fishing and to the theatre. These parodies of human behaviour became immensely popular. 

6. Louis Wain, and two of his cat paintings. (Images from the internet – photo by Lascelles & Co.)

Despite his popularity and huge output (he could produce up to 600 drawings a year), Wain was not good with money and during the First World War he sank into poverty. He lived with his sisters in Brondesbury Road. Having developed a mental illness, he died at Napsbury Hospital, near St Albans. He is buried in his father's grave at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery, Kensal Green.

At the start of Kilburn’s development, land owners or builders were responsible for the infrastructure of their own developments, including roads and sewers. Gas street lighting was first introduced in Kilburn near the bridge in 1849, and extended in 1861. Kilburn used the Metropolitan Board of Work’s sewers, although Willesden fell outside its area. 

So many houses had been built in Kilburn that many could not be sold or let as family homes. It was common to find rooms let out to several families. The poorer areas of Kilburn became overcrowded, in 1894 with 11 persons per house, compared with 6 in the rest of the parish. The death rate for children under 5 in Willesden in 1875 was 45 per 1,000, with Kilburn the worst area, where diarrhoea, tuberculosis and respiratory diseases were prevalent. Healthcare, if you could afford it, was provided by local clinics, but for hospital residents went to St. Mary’s Paddington or New End in Hampstead. 

7. Paddington Old Cemetery, Willesden Lane, and its war graves, 2018. (Photos by John & Anne Hill)

The large estates’ lands still had some farms, which mainly produced hay for London horses, as well as providing grazing for cattle, and there were also several nurseries. But each successive decade saw less farmland. In 1855 Paddington Burial Board bought 22 acres of a farm off Willesden Lane and set up a civic cemetery. Today it is run by Brent and is Grade II listed. The cemetery includes 213 graves for casualties of the First and Second World Wars.

8. Willesden Town Hall, Dyne Road, in the 1920s. (Brent Archives online image 657)

Local government only developed gradually. The local authority for Kilburn was originally the Willesden Parish vestry (and Hampstead vestry, respectively east of the High Road). This organised a vote in 1875, that set up the Willesden Local Board, which in turn was succeed by Willesden Urban District Council in 1894. Willesden Town Hall was built in Dyne Road, on the site of Waterloo Farm, and opened in 1891. (The building was demolished in 1970, after the newly formed Brent Council had chosen Wembley’s more modern Town Hall as its headquarters.)

9. Willesden Volunteer Fire Brigade, 1874. (Brent Archives online image 732)

A volunteer fire service was formed after the fire at Mapesbury Mill on Shoot Up Hill in 1863, with headquarters in Bridge Street, near the tollgate. A new station, under the control of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade was opened in Salusbury Road in 1884,which covered the Kilburn area until the Second World War. The fire station was next to Kilburn Library, the first public library to be opened in Willesden in January 1894, which was enlarged in 1908.

10. Kilburn Library (right) and Fire Station (centre), c.1910. (Brent Archives online image 10773)

11. Salusbury Road and the Police Station, c.1900. (From the internet: www.images-of-london.co.uk )

The police station, as shown on the photo above, is on the corner of Salusbury Road and Harvist Road, - still a police station today, although the building has been completely re-built in the 1970s.

12. High Road, Kilburn, in 1886, by local photographer A. Mackie. (Brent Archives online image 226)

Kilburn became a thriving commercial centre, with the Edgware Road through it, featuring a continuous line of shops by the 1860s. It gained the name Kilburn High Road in the 1880s. Foyle's bookshop started in Kilburn, moving to Charing Cross Road in 1926. By 1909 there were 300 shops here, many owned by foreigners, some of them Jewish immigrants.

13. Kilburn High Road, 1905. (From the internet: www.images-of-london.co.uk )

Industry was here, too. There was tile making in Kilburn as early as the 16th century. In 1862 a railway signal factory was built in Kilburn Lane (later called Canterbury Road). The Saxby & Farmer works became the largest employer in Kilburn, although it moved to a larger site in Chippenham, Wiltshire, around 1906, after taking over a similar business there. 

14. Kelly & Craven's works in Willesden Lane, 1884, and Kelly's tombstone. (Images from John Hill)

By 1890 there were coachbuilders, bicycle manufacturers, and monumental masons (for Paddington Cemetery). Kelly & Craven’s Cemetery Stone Works in Willesden Lane did plenty of business, as most people were buried (cremation did not become common until the 20^thcentury). Unfortunately for Mr Kelly, the stone dust from his work was a health hazard, and he was just 51 years old when he was laid to rest.  Light engineering and printing were also established by 1914.

With the rapid increase in population came a rise in the number of churches. We’ve already seen St Paul’s Church in Part 3, and non-conformist ministries were quick to follow the housing developments such as those by James Bailey. St James’s Episcopalian Church was built in Cambridge Avenue in 1863, using a prefabricated corrugated iron system. Commonly known as ‘the tin tabernacle’, it is surprisingly still there today, and although no longer a church, and officially called Cambridge Hall, it is a Grade II listed building. In 1865 the Reverend Thomas Hall had West Kilburn Baptist Church built, to designs by his brother, who was an architect. After more than 150 years, that is still in use, and a locally listed building.

15. Cambridge Hall (Kilburn's "tin tabernacle") and West Kilburn Baptist Church. (Images from the internet)

Next week we will continue to look at local churches, schools and much more, as Kilburn’s story continues into the 20^thcentury.

Irina Porter,
Willesden Local History Society.

A special thank you to local historian Dick Weindling, co-author of 'Kilburn and West Hampstead Past' and History of Kilburn and West Hampstead blog .

Cllr Shama Tatler, Lead member for Regeneration, has circulated her speech at the Extraordinary Meeting of the Council on Healthy Neighbourhoods on social media. It contrasts with the speech made by Cllr Butt. I reproduce the speech below:

I was interested to see the above Tweet this morning as I too had a walk round Wembley Park yesterday to catch up on the progress of the regeneration.  I don't know how many of the tower blocks have cladding issues but I am sure there are matters around service charges, repair charges, leasehold and shared housing that are yet to emerge.

Here are a few pictures taken yesterday giving a general impression. Note that works to join up North End Road with Bridge Road are progressing and the stairs and ramp next to Michaela School,  that led to both Olympic Way and North End Road, are now closed. There is a long detour for Michaela students and North End Road residents in place.

The affected properties

The Housing Association, Notting Hill Genesis, is to evacuate  a six-block development in Hounslow.   University of West London students from the student accommodation on the site will be transferred to CRM's Grand Felda House in Empire Way.  UWL told the students that the new accommodation was of higher quality and more modern than their present housing. A shuttle bus will run from Wembley to the UWL campus.LINK 

Grand Felda House

The news comes on top of widespread concerns over cladding and the plight of people in leasehold and shared ownership properties who are unable to move because they cannot acquire the necessary fire safety certificate. There are six buildings in the affected development, one of which is 17 storeys high.

This is today's press statement:

Notting Hill Genesis, one of London’s largest housing associations, is to undertake a comprehensive safety review across a six-block residential development in London following expert advice that the construction of the buildings may be putting residents at risk.

Following expert advice provided by consultants employed by Notting Hill Genesis, all residents living in Paragon – about 1,000 people in total – will be asked to leave immediately in order to protect their health and safety while further investigative work is undertaken.

Paragon is a development of six blocks containing a total of 1,059 homes in Brentford, Hounslow. It was developed by Berkeley First, part of The Berkeley Group plc. The estate was owned initially by the former Presentation Housing Association, which became part of Notting Hill Housing – now Notting Hill Genesis – in 2009.

Notting Hill Genesis said that it would ensure that all residents living in the Paragon Estate were able to access safe alternative accommodation this week. It will also work with residents to find a longer-term solution to their housing needs where necessary.

The further investigations will establish the full extent of the structural and fire safety issues that have been uncovered at the development and identify next steps.

Notting Hill Housing group, which became part of Notting Hill Genesis group in 2018, acquired Paragon in 2009.

Earlier building performance issues, together with fire safety issues related to the cladding and the subsequent new Government guidance since the fire at Grenfell Tower, triggered a series of safety checks at Paragon, undertaken by technical consultants, which have each revealed further problems with this development.

Notting Hill Genesis has taken action to address these risks as they have arisen, including establishing waking watches and temporary alarms, and introducing simultaneous evacuation procedures, but the latest advice has prompted the group to act in order to protect its residents.

Kate Davies, group chief executive of Notting Hill Genesis, said:

“First, I want to say how sorry we are to residents that we have had to take this action and disrupt their lives. But, as a not-for-profit housing association, our priority is to provide safe, affordable housing. We always ensure the wellbeing of our residents, so while we are incredibly disappointed to have to make this decision, we believe that we have no choice but to ask people to leave their homes on the Paragon estate.

“I understand that Paragon residents may feel angry or alarmed by this news, as they have every right to be. This is a very distressing time and we are genuinely sorry for the huge amount of disruption and uncertainty that this situation will cause.

“This is a complex situation and we don’t yet have all the answers. We are working to uncover the full extent of the issues at Paragon so that we can provide residents with clarity about timescales, next steps and options as quickly as possible.

“We are doing all we can to support people who live in Paragon through this difficult situation. We have identified safe accommodation for everyone to move into this week and are providing financial as well as mental health and wellbeing support to help them do that. We are also giving everyone a dedicated caseworker to discuss their specific needs both now and for the longer-term where necessary.”

There is no suggestion that any other buildings in the Notting Hill Genesis portfolio will require a similar approach to the one being taken at Paragon. Buildings are being investigated and prioritised based on factors such as height, external materials used and evacuation procedure, and residents informed if further investigation or remedial work is required. Where necessary, and in consultation with fire safety assessors, interim safety measures such as simultaneous evacuation procedures, supported by 24-hour patrols and temporary alarms are in place.

Paragon

Paragon is a scheme that was developed for Presentation Housing Association Limited and Touareg Trust, which was originally a subsidiary of Presentation Housing, by Berkeley First Limited. Presentation transferred its engagements to Notting Hill Housing Trust in 2009. Paragon comprises eight blocks that reached practical completion 2006. The development comprises six blocks of residential and student accommodation, plus two commercial buildings that are not owned by Notting Hill Genesis group.

The six blocks consist of the following:
• Block A - a five-storey building consisting of 41 units of intermediate market rent.
• Block B – three interconnected buildings of four, five and nine storeys with 107 shared ownership leasehold units and 72 intermediate rent.
• Blocks C, D, E and F - 17, 12, 12 and five-storeys respectively, hold a combined 839 units of student accommodation which is occupied by students nominated by the University of West London.

The freeholds of Blocks C through F are owned by Touareg Trust, which is a registered charity and is a subsidiary of Notting Hill Genesis.

Blocks A and B are owned by Notting Hill Genesis. Notting Hill Home Ownership Limited, a not-for-profit subsidiary of Notting Hill Genesis, holds a long leasehold interest at Block B where the shared ownership homes are located.

The Director of Public Health, Brent, Dr Melanie Smith, has responded to the transfer of students from  Notting Hill Genesis accommodation in Brentford to Grand Felda House in Empire Way, Wembley Park.

Dr Smith said:

 I can confirm that a number of students will be transferring this week from Brentford to purpose built student accommodation in Wembley Park.

This morning I reviewed, with Public Health England, the plans to transfer the students and to accommodate them in Wembley Park. I am happy that the risks of COVID transmission have been minimised. Self-isolating students are being re-accomodated with the same flatmates as they have had in Brentford. And, of course, the Tier 2 restrictions mean that students are not permitted to mix with students in other flats. 

This is clearly a difficult time for the students who are having to leave their new homes at a time when some of them are self-isolating because of COVID and we have also reviewed the support being provided to the students by their University and accommodation providers.

We will continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis

As the number of high rises proliferate throughout Brent and the cladding issue in many tower blocks unresolved, even as the horrors of Grenfell are relived through the current Inquiry, it is worth thinking about the situation of people with a disability in such buildings.

The London Fire Brigade has said that disabled people should not be placed in any accommodation above the 4th floor. One of the fatalities at Grenfell was a woman who had been told by Kensington and Chelsea Council that she would not be housed above the 4th floor, but tragically, she was.

A disabled pensioner in a Brent Council block has approached Wembley Matters to tell us about his situation. 

Since Grenfell he has asked the council to rehouse him on a lower floor and in response they have asked him why he accepted a flat in a South Kilburn high rise above the 4th floor way back in April, 1993.

They have also lost the record of the PEEP (Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan) that he had sent them and demanded proof that he was disabled despite the council's own OT team assessing him last year and installing a wet room and sit down shower as a result. He thinks that this action, in itself, is proof of his mobility needs.

He remarked that the council had found homes for nearly 900 students but had told him that they had no spare home to offer him. A different case of course, and a private provider,  but it clearly rankles.

The resident could see Grenfell from his tower block his tower block as he wrote his email to Wembley Matters and reflected that there had been two fires in his block during his tenancy and he had not known about them until he smelt the smoke. His neighbours and fire officers had shouted warnings to leave the building but he had not heard them because of the hearing impairment he has on top of his mobility problem.

He asks how many other disabled people are living in fear of fire in Brent's high rises in the shadow of the Grenfell disaster?

A good question, deserving of an answer.

Video of Gerry Ansell's summing up re the proposal and councillor's reasons for voting against

The Planning Committee of October 14th was notable as the first the be chaired by Cllr Matt Kelcher following the Labour and Council AGM, for its length and for the way in which the themes that emerged during the discussion of the application to redevelop the site of the Willesden Green PoliceSstation revealed some of the conflictions and contradictions in Brent Council's planning policies and guidance.

This is the Council's recording of the decision:

Ansell said that there were particular factors in this development that reduced viability.  It was in a sensitive location with a building of quality with associated costs for its retention and restoration that reduced land values.

He said that affordable housing was a core Council policy but issues are 'a matter of balance.' He assured councillors that officers pushed developers hard on affordability.

Cllr Arshad Mamhood was particuarly vexed working out that the market value was about £10m and the developer was only required to contribute £143,000 to off-site affordable housing elsewhere. Councillors were told that this could be used for the equivalent of 1-1/2 units elsewhere in the borough.

Cllr Mahmood asked that councillors be able to look more closely at the detail of Viability Assessments so that they could scrutinise them. He was told that they were available on the Council website before applications came to Committee.

 The retained police station with the new development behind

The recently liberated (from Cabinet) Cllr Tom Miller, representing his ward, spoke against the development.  He told the Committee:

I feel that with only this proposal on the table, what the Committee are being asked is, 'Would you rather have a development that is out of character with, not just the local area, but a conservation area?' and show we are not serious about preserving that or, 'Would you rather have a proposal that shows we are not serious about having  enough affordable homes?'

It's asking the Local Authority to pick which of our policies we should ditch and that for me has 'REJECT' written all over it. It is throwing down a challenge to the Committte, 'Which of these is not important.'

I'd rather not have a conservation area at all then have a conservation area that allows developers to drive right through it.

Both he and fellow Willesden Green councillor, Cllr Donnelly-Jackson said that they had not been approached bu the developers and consulted.

A positive aspect of the discussion was the planners assertion that they had been keen to ensure the retention of the police station and recognised its historial merit depite it not being a listed building. Cllr Dixon spoke about the important historical character of this section of the High Road.

Other issues that came up were carless developments that just meant residents would spill over into nearby streets to park, the development overlooking neighbour's gardens and in one particular case reducing the light  entering a neighbour's property to almost zero. The sheer bulk of the property in contrast to the local side streets  and the High Road and the lack of proper consultation were major issues - along with the 146 objections to the scheme.

The Committee voted to reject the proposal with Cllr Liz Dixon and Cllr Saqib Butt abstaining.

Volunteers have been working with the charity Thames21 to restore the habitats of the River Brent which flows through the borough from the Welsh Harp to the North Circular.

This video is a fitting tribute to their dedication and their vision.

 Cuts in children's concessionary fares, insisted upon by the Government in the proposed TfL budget settlement were due to come into effect after the half-term holiday but are likely to be delayed.  Meanwhile a campaign against the changes, in parallel with that regarding the Freedom Pass, is well underway.

This is an edited version of the Child Poverty Action Group's press release on the issue published last month:

Londoners are uniting to oppose the suspension of free travel in the city for 11-17 year olds – as a survey from Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) shows the suspension will force some families to cut back on daily living expenses – including food – while restricting children’s access to family, friends and out-of-school activities (see Notes to Editors for filming info/timings).

Children and young people in London have been able to travel around the capital for free, or at a discounted rate, using a Zip card, since 2006. But in May the Government made the suspension of free travel for 11-17 year olds (and 18 year olds who turn 18 in their last year of school/college) a condition of its emergency funding agreement for Transport for London (TfL).

Child Poverty Action Group’s Don’t Zap the Zip campaign commissioned an online YouGov survey of over 1000 11-18 year olds and their parents. Almost three quarters (74%) of youngsters surveyed who have a Zip card said they used their Zip card to get to school or college. But if free travel for 11-17 year olds goes, only those who live more than two miles from their school or are classed as vulnerable will be able to travel to school or college for free from after the October half term. Children aged 10 or under will retain free travel.*

CPAG says the suspension will hit low income and BME families the hardest – just as we go into a coronavirus recession – and calls on the Government to remove it.

The charity’s survey found:

Young people:

• A large majority of children surveyed who own a Zip card (79%) said their Zip card is ‘very important’ for travelling around London. Fifty eight per cent surveyed would be worried that they would have trouble paying public transport fares if they were unable to travel on public transport for free in London.
• Almost three quarters of children surveyed who have a Zip card (74%) use the Zip card for getting to school or college.
• More than a quarter of all children surveyed (26%) and more than a third (36%) of those in low-income families would worry that scrapping free travel would limit their options for school/college places (or workplaces for apprenticeship/training placements).**
• One third (33%) would worry about feeling safe getting to school/college. Thirty eight per cent would worry about being late.
• If free travel ends, more than half (56%) would have to cut back on going into central London to shops, museums and other attractions; 45% would have to cut back on seeing friends and family.
• 79% of London children surveyed disagree with the planned suspension (85% of those from low-income families).

The survey findings suggest ending free travel will have a disproportionate impact on children from BME families who make up almost 60% of London’s under-18 population:

• 73% of children ages 11 to 18 surveyed in BME families who have a Zip card mainly used their Zip cards to travel to and from school, compared with 61% of children in white families.
• 61% of children in BME families surveyed would be worried about having trouble paying for public transport fares if they were unable to travel on public transport for free, compared to 56% of children in white families
  

Parents:

• Over half (54%) of parents of children ages 11 to 18 in London surveyed said they would have to cut back on something else to pay fares if the suspension goes ahead. Of those, 71% said they would have to cut back on daily living expenses, 41% would have to cut back on food, and approaching two thirds (62%) said children’s extra-curricular activities would have to be reduced. Sixty five per cent of low-income parents surveyed said they would have to cut back on something. Fifty eight per cent of BME parents said the same.
•  

According to an initial estimate from London Councils***, the suspension would cost parents more than £80 million per year (ie £37 million for parents of children who will have to pay for home-to-school transport, £2 million for young people who are apprentices or not in education or employment and around £45 million for the cost to parents of all children and young people aged 11 to 17 who will have to pay for bus and tram journeys).

TfL and the Mayor of London oppose the suspension which is subject to discussions on how it will be implemented.

London Councils and London boroughs are concerned about how the proposal will be implemented, the implications for young people and parents, particularly for those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. There are also real concerns about the financial, resource and legal implications for councils at this already challenging time.

Child Poverty Action Group is concerned that although the Government describes the removal of free travel as ‘temporary’, it has not clarified how long it will last nor what the fare structure will be for different age groups (11-16, 16-18).

CPAG’s London Campaign Manager Alice Woudhuysen said:

Low-income London families have been under huge financial strain because of the pandemic and, for many, things could get worse rather than better as furlough ends and unemployment rises. Now is not the time to pull the plug on vital help with children’s travel costs. This proposal is a blunt tool, the full impact of which has not been properly considered.

 

Many journeys are unavoidable and, as our survey shows, if the Zip card goes, many low-income parents will face additional costs and find it even harder to provide for their children in very uncertain times.

 

We live in a big expensive city where travel is necessary to get about, go to school and take advantage of opportunities that are not on our doorsteps. Young Londoners have already lost so much to keep everyone safe – it isn’t right to limit their lives further as the city comes back to life. Therefore, we are calling on the Government not to “Zap the Zip” because London’s children and young people deserve better.

The Government’s stated aim in removing free travel is to reduce the number of young people using public transport in order to aid social distancing during the pandemic. But there are already maximum passenger numbers on buses to enable social distancing – as well as additional ‘school services’ buses from TfL, staggered opening hours and arrival times, plans for cycling support and reduced cohorts of students in schools. And more positive methods of encouraging children to walk or cycle to school which do not involve placing a financial burden on their families could be adopted, such as walking initiatives, bikes and cycle training.

Some families with children who started secondary school or college this September will have chosen a school on the assumption that their child’s Zip card will cover the journey. If the school is within a two mile journey but beyond walking distance from their home, families will have to cover fares to school unless they are eligible for free travel because the children are vulnerable. 

Other families who have chosen a secondary school or college further than two miles from home will have to apply for free travel – although the Government has not said how the applications process will work. 

Families also have to make secondary school applications for 2021 places before the end of October, and sixth forms usually start accepting applications in September. So it’s possible that students choosing between a secondary school or sixth form that is within two miles of their home and another that is further away will be making that decision this month based on little information about long-term travel costs.

Campaign Briefing here: https://cpag.org.uk/policy-and-campaigns/briefing/dont-zap-zip-campaign-briefing
 

 From Brent Council website today

Parents of children eligible for Free School Meals will be able to collect a £15 food voucher from Brent Council to help children get a meal every day next week.

The council is looking to provide food for at least 10,000 children in the borough and the support is set to cost around £150,000.

Parents are being contacted through their child’s school with more information about where they can collect their voucher.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council said: 

It was deeply depressing to see the Government vote against free school meals for kids who desperately need them earlier in the week.

Brent Council fully supports the campaign by footballer Marcus Rashford MBE to end child food poverty and we hope that the Government will look to change their mind so that we support all children who need our help and support in these most challenging times.

Editor's note

The information arrived at schools just before they broke up for the half-term holiday but  office and other staff moved quickly to inform eligible parents of the arrangements for picking up the vouchers. 

The vouchers can be picked up on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday next week from either Willesden Green Library or Brent Civic Centre depending on the location of the school.  If families are suffering food hardship on Monday or Tuesday, Brent Council can assist with a Food Bank referral. Parents can contact Brent council on 0208 937 1234 for a temporary urgent food bank referral.

 At the end of Part 4 (“click” if you missed it) I said that we would continue to look at some more churches, but there is much more to uncover this week!

1. St Mary's Church, in the age of horse drawn vehicles. (From the internet: www.images-of-london.co.uk )

We’ve already mentioned St. Paul’s, Kilburn Square (founded in 1829, demolished in 1934). St. Mary’s Church started in 1856, when the developer of the Abbey Farm estate, George Duncan, presented a site for it (on the Hampstead side). It holds the only known relic of the Kilburn Priory – a small brass plate of the prioress Emma de Sancto Omero (you can see a picture of this in Part 1).

Quex Road, also to the east of Kilburn High Road, boasted no less than three places of worship, a Wesleyan chapel, a Unitarian Hall and the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This was designed by Edward Welby Pugin and opened in 1878, with a school for Catholic priests nearby.It served the large Irish community, which expanded rapidly in the 20^th century. 

2. St Augustine's Church, Kilburn, in 1909 and 2020. (From: www.images-of-london.co.uk and by Irina Porter)

However, the true gem of Kilburn is St. Augustine’s Church in Kilburn Park Road, known as"the Cathedral of North London". Founded in 1870, St. Augustine’s was consecrated in 1880 as an Anglo-Catholic Church of England and is listed as a Grade I building by Historic England. The spire finally crowned the magnificent Gothic Revival building in 1898. It was designed by John Loughborough Pearson, an architect who specialised in ecclesiastical architecture and worked around the world. Some internal work was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (of Battersea Power Station, Liverpool Cathedral and the red telephone box fame). The worship followed ‘high’ Anglican tradition, which was closer to Roman Catholicism.

At one point the church had four valuable paintings, a Titian among them, given to the church by Viscount Rothermere. One of them was stolen and the church decided to sell the rest because of security issues. The writer Thomas Hardy visited from time to time, when he was in London, to hear the music and admire the magnificent building. The composer Leonard Bernstein conducted an English Bach Festival concert at the church in 1977. The ornate interior of St Augustine's was used in the filming of Young Sherlock Holmes(1985).

3. Brondesbury Synagogue, c. 1930. (Image from the internet)

Although Christianity was still the main religion in England in late Victorian times, that was beginning to change. One of the first Jews to settle in Willesden was Polish-born Solomon Barnett, a builder and property developer who lived in Brondesbury Road. He invited other local Jewish residents to his home in 1900, and they agreed to build a synagogue. He sold them a site in Chevening Road, at less than cost, and the Brondesbury Synagogue opened in 1905. It had an unusual Moorish design, which was unique in the area at the time, and served the Jewish community in the whole of the Willesden for several decades. It closed after a fire in 1965, and the building was sold to the Iman Al-Khoei Foundation in 1974.

The first elementary schools in Kilburn were run by churches. St. Paul’s, Kilburn was the earliest in 1847, and was a “National School” part-funded by National Society for Promoting Religious Education. St. Augustine’s Church also had a school. In 1870 the Education Act was passed, providing for elementary schools, known as Board Schools. Local churches feared that religion would not be taught in these, and by 1882 had set up an association to establish new Church of England schools in poor districts.  Christ Church School in Willesden Lane (built by Solomon Barnett) was one of these, first opening (for infants) in 1889. 

4. The modern St Augustine's School building, seen from Cambridge Gardens. (Photo by Irina Porter)

Small fees were charged in some elementary schools until 1891, when primary education became free. Fees for secondary education were only finally abolished in 1944.

Kilburn Grammar School was founded in 1897 as a boys’ choir school by Dr. George Bonavia Hunt, vicar of St Paul's, Kilburn. This was the time when there was no state provision for secondary education. From one in Willesden Lane it moved a few times to increasingly larger premises, until it founds its permanent purpose-built home at Salusbury Road in 1900.
Dr. Hunt, who taught musical history at the University of London, remained there until 1904.

5. Kilburn Grammar School, in the 1920s and a 1900 advertisement. (Brent Archives images 3404 and 6675)

In 1907 the school was purchased by the local authority, and became the first state secondary school in Willesden. With the formation of Brent in 1965, the borough policy of closing grammar schools led to the school becoming a comprehensive in 1967, renamed Kilburn Senior High School. In 1973 it merged with the girl’s school on the opposite side of the road to form Brondesbury and Kilburn High School, and in 1989 it moved to a different place and became part of Queen's Park Community School. The Edwardian buildings in Salusbury Road are now Islamia Schools.

The original Kilburn Grammar paved the way for university and lead to successful careers in business, academia, civil service, law and arts. Amongst its alumni were Richard Baker, BBC newsreader and broadcaster, Kenneth Howard, an artist who painted for the British Army from the 1970s, the linguist Professor Simeon Potter, who also wrote a history of Willesden, and another distinguished local historian and Brent councillor, Len Snow. Brondesbury and Kilburn High School for Girls produced Lesley Hornby (better known as Twiggy, a famous 60s fashion icon) and Margery Hurst, who founded the Brook Street Bureau employment agency.

6. Brondesbury & Kilburn High School for Girls, early 20th century.

Kilburn had a large number of private schools. At the time when board schools were regarded as being for the lower classes, those who could afford it preferred to pay for education. Many were on the Hampstead side, such as the Haberdashers’ in Westbere Road.

In the 1870s Henley House School at the corner of Kilburn Priory was headed by John Vine Milne, whose son Alan Alexander, author of Winnie the Pooh stories, was born there in 1882. The first science teacher at Henley House, appointed in 1888 was H.G. Wells, the pioneer writer of science fiction.

7. A.A. Milne (left) in 1922, and H.G. Wells (photographed by Beresford). (Images from the internet)

Kilburn High Road, in the meantime, continued to bustle with trade and entertainment. Kilburn’s position on the old Watling Street ensured a good number of drinking establishments from early times. The public houses were much more than a place for a pint – they were hotels, functions rooms, auction sites, coroners’ inquests premises, even makeshift mortuaries. By 1872 there were 8 pubs in Kilburn High Road, and 13 more in the neighbourhood. There was a brewery and several beer retailers.

8. Kilburn High Road, with brewery on the left, c.1900. (Image from the internet)

The building on the left which looks like a church hall is Kilburn Brewery, built in 1832 by the Verey brothers. They were so successful that by 1853 they had their own wharf on the canal at Lower Place in Harlesden to bring in supplies. The brewery complex consisted of the main building with a fine frontage, a malt house and stabling for horses. In 1866 it was taken over by Michell and Phillips, which later became Michell and Aldous. It closed in 1920, and the building was later used by the Gas, Light and Coke Company. Today the site is occupied by several shops, with the original façade still being seen from numbers 293 to 313 High Road. 

9. The B.B. Evans store after the 1910 fire, and in a 1920s advert. ( www.images-of-london.co.uk / internet)

The High Road was also a main shopping centre for much of the surrounding area. Drapery and furnishing businesses had competing shops - Kilburn Bon Marche, dating from 1880s, the Grange Furnishing Stores at 127-9 High Road, catering for high class customers, and the most famous store in Kilburn, B.B. Evans at 142-162 High Road. It was started as a drapers’ in 1897, by Benjamin Beardmore Evans, who used to work for Willesden Urban District Council. It expanded in 1905, but in 1910 was destroyed by fire and then re-built. When it closed in 1971, it was the only department store in Kilburn. Since then the buildings went through a succession of occupants, and are now Sports Direct, T.K. Maxx and Aldi.

Speculative builders continued to provide employment opportunities around both sides of Kilburn High Road. John Allen and Sons ran a successful building company – they built many houses on the Hampstead side of Kilburn. At the end of the 19th century the firm took over The Elms, the old mansion house, converted it into offices and built a factory in the grounds called Palmerston Works. In 1901 they built new stands at Ascot Race Course.

During the First World War Kilburn suffered some bomb damage in a couple of Zeppelin raids near Belsize Road, Oxford Road and Canterbury Road. One of the area’s main contributions to the war effort was the housing of Belgian refugees, of whom 250,000 fled to England after the Germany army invaded their neutral country on its way to attack France. By September 1914, churches and local refugee committees where organising homes and support for refugee families, and Rabbi Lazarus from Brondesbury Synagogue had set up a hostel in Willesden Lane for Jewish refugees from Antwerp.

10. King Albert Belgian School, Kilburn, by Arthur Dunn, c.1917. (Brent Archives images 2322, 2343, 2345)

In 1915, Kilburn Grammar School had eight Belgian boys, who it accepted with reduced fees, but there was a much larger number of refugee children who did not speak any English. In April 1916, the King Albert Belgian School was set up in the Sunday School buildings at Brondesbury Park Congregational Church, jointly funded by Willesden Council and the Belgian Government. It had around 60 pupils, and taught lessons in English, French and Flemish. The School closed in March 1919, by which time most of the families had returned to Belgium.

In 1916 the grounds of The Elms became home to the Central Aircraft Company (179 Kilburn High Road), the subsidiary of a woodworking business. They built wooden components for aircraft manufacturers, but by the end of the war they had designed their own aeroplane. Their ‘Centaur’ aircraft first flew from a nearby field in Willesden Lane called ‘Kilburn Aerodrome’ in 1919, and was later used at a flying school at Northolt aerodrome.

11. A 1919 advert for the flying school, and a Centaur II at Northolt. (Internet: from “Aeroplane” and “Flight”)

Their Centaur II was designed to carry six passengers, and could have been one of the world’s first airliners; but only two were ever built, and they were used for pleasure flights over beauty spots in London, Kent, Wales and even the Belgian battlefields. However, the idea that people would be owning planes as they did cars did not take off, and by 1926 the company stopped making aeroplanes and concentrated on furniture. 

We will look at the homes where people lived, and the places of entertainment they enjoyed, as we move further into 20^thcentury Kilburn next time.

Irina Porter,
Willesden Local History Society.

A special thank you to local historian Dick Weindling, co-author of 'Kilburn and West Hampstead Past' and History of Kilburn and West Hampstead blog .

Cavan Medlock, 28, from Harrow in north-west London, allegedly visited the offices of Duncan Lewis Solicitors in Harrow  last month armed with a large knife and threatened to kill a member of staff last month.

At his trial last week, the prosecution alleged Medlock planned to take a solicitor hostage and display flags of Nazi Germany and the US Confederacy in the firm’s office windows to inspire others to carry out similar offences. He allegedly blamed lawyers at the firm for preventing the removal of immigrants from the UK.

Days earlier the home secretary, Priti Patel, had claimed activist lawyers were frustrating the removal of refused asylum seekers from the UK.

Medlock is charged with six offences including the charge of preparation of an act of terrorism, racially or religiously aggravated attacks against two members of staff at the law firm, and threats to kill.

Emma Wallace, Green Party candidate for the Brent and Harrow GLA consituency said today:

It is incredibly concerning to hear that the UK home secretary, Priti Patel, dismissed intelligence briefings from counter-terrorism police over the alleged far-right terror attack that was attempted at a local Harrow law firm at the beginning of September.  LINK

The Home Secretary's key role is to use intelligence provided to her and the Home Office to protect local communities and ensure they are kept safe and secure from any such threats from rightwing terrorism.  Instead, the home secretary ignored intelligence reports and is recorded using inflammatory and deregoratry language to describe immigration lawyers, in effect contributing to a rise in hatred and extremism, rather than quell it.

Brent and Harrow are diverse boroughs whose residents deserve to be protected by government - not undermined and endangered by it. I call on my fellow GLA Brent and Harrow candidates to condemn the Home Secretary’s inflammatory language and her  lack of action on the threat from right-wing groups and individuals.

Harrow Law Centre Director, Pamela Fitzpatrick, who is also a Harrow councillor, told the Harrow Monitoring Group website LINK:

This is very worrying as Harrow Law Centre has three immigration solicitors and less funding for security than big firms. This is the result of the actions of the Tories calling us activist lawyers.

After the alleged attack, Duncan Lewis wrote to the Law Society asking it to contact the home secretary and the lord chancellor “to ensure that attacks on the legal profession are prevented from this point forth”. It added: “The position as it stands is untenable, dangerous and cannot be allowed to persist.”

On Sunday 800 prominent legal experts wrote an open letter to the Guardian LINK:

We are all deeply concerned at recent attacks, made by the home secretary and echoed by the prime minister, on lawyers seeking to hold the government to the law.

Such attacks endanger not only the personal safety of lawyers and others working for the justice system, as has recently been vividly seen; they undermine the rule of law, which ministers and lawyers alike are duty-bound to uphold.

We invite both the home secretary and the Prime minister to behave honourably by apologising for their display of hostility, and to refrain from such attacks in the future.

In support of the letter, former director of public prosecutions Lord Macdonald QC said:

The home secretary may not grasp the indecency of her language, but the prime minister should know better.

Lawyers who represent demonised people are always attacked by populist politicians, but it is demeaning to our country and its institutions that the government itself is now dipping into this disreputable playbook.

It is precisely this sort of ugly authoritarianism that the rule of law is called upon to counter. The entire legal profession is proud of those lawyers who are being so crudely and dangerously vilified.

Covid-19 – London remains on a ‘high’ alert level (tier 2) The number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to rise across almost all boroughs in NW London and remains over 100 per 100,000 population. 

It is important that all parts of our community adhere to public health advice on hand washing, face coverings and social distancing if the spread of Covid-19 is to be slowed. 

Reassurance to the public: 

• We would like to reassure patients and the public that we have been working hard over the last few weeks, to prepare for a second wave and plans are in place to support care homes; primary, community, mental health and hospital care. 

• Across health services in NW London we have learnt a lot form the first wave and we are in the best possible place to continue to treat patients safely and effectively through the weeks and months ahead. 

• We have put in place rigorous infection control measures to keep both patients and staff safe, including separating people who may have Covid-19 from those who do not. 

 • The NHS is here for you and safe. If you have been called for an appointment, it is because you need it. Please make sure you attend if you are asked to do so – it is much safer to attend hospital when required than not to come in due to misplaced fears. Flu guidance for people on the shielded list 

• As a person on the NHS Shielded Patient List, it is vital that you get your free flu jab. Flu can be deadly, and the flu vaccine is the best way to protect those who are shielding from COVID-19 from becoming ill with the flu. You will be contacted by the NHS to arrange your flu jab. 

• If you have not heard from the NHS about your flu jab, please contact your GP practice to arrange it 

• To protect you from the risk of catching flu, household contacts of people on the NHS Shielded Patient List are also eligible this year for a free flu jab. A household contact is a person that lives with you or is expected to be in your home across most days over the winter. Your household contacts should ask their GP or pharmacist about the free flu jab 

Get your flu jab at your local pharmacy 

 • Eligible patients over the age of 18 can now book a flu vaccination at their local community pharmacy in person or by telephone. 

• You can usually book online as well, although due to unprecedented demand this year, fewer online slots may be available this week. People wishing to book a flu jab in pharmacy are advised to telephone ahead to local 

• Pharmacies expect more flu vaccine stock to arrive in November, so please check back to https://myvaccinations.co.uk or www.boots.com/online/pharmacy-services/winter-flu-jab-services later this month if you are unable to get an appointment this week.