February 2012

February news from Councillor Matt Harmer

Welcome to the February email bulletin from Brentford ward councillor Matt Harmer. You’re getting it because we have communicated on local issues. If you would prefer not to receive these bulletins then you will find a link below that will unsubscribe you.

* Brentford Festival *

You have possibly read that there will be no Brentford Festival in 2012. You can read a statement from Linda Massey, the prime mover behind the event, here: http://www.brentfordfestival.org.uk/BF2012CancelPressRelease.pdf What follows here is a personal view – it’s not a Council statement of any kind. It’s a bit long but it’s not a simple issue.

The organisers appear to have been the victim of the decision taken by the previous Conservative/ICG - led council to give control of our local parks to a private company, John Laing Integrated Services. There also may have been delays in responding to Festival organisers and this is something that we will be looking into further.

As far as I can see, here is what happened. Since the start of the Festival, the organisers have been provided with certain services for free. These include things like signage, setting up and taking down marquees, generators, extra litter collection etc. These services were undertaken by CIP, the not-for-profit organisation set up by a previous Labour administration to run parks, libraries etc in Hounslow.

However, JLIS have made it clear to the organisers that they were going to treat the Festival in the same way that they would treat a private event and set fees that a private event organiser would expect to pay but that a community could never expect to meet. These include not only the fees for providing what used to be provided at no cost to the Festival but also fees for what appears to be an Indemnity/Public Liability contract. This, as I understand it, is protection against being sued if, say, a visitor at the Festival fell, tripped and hurt themselves. The organisers weren't required to undertake one of these in the past, they tell me, as this was covered by the year-round all-purpose agreement that is in place that covers every visitor to every park all year round.

In mid-January the Council agreed to cover at least some of these costs. There seems to have been an objection to the principle of the Council paying these costs given that the Council (which of course means council tax payers) already pays JLIS. I’m all in favour of having principles but being frank, I would prefer that the Council has to pay more money to JLIS and get the event on rather than not pay the money and therefore not have the event.

There was another issue. In the past, CIP provided resources at little/no charge. Signage, some stewarding, set up and take down help. When JLIS took over, a company called Continental Landscapes (containing many of the same personnel) took over as a sub-contractor of JLIS. But from March JLIS will do this in house and will make a charge for services previously provided at low-cost. The Council agreed to cover all these costs for 2012 had the Festival not been cancelled.

And, like I said, the organisers wanted all this sorted out well in advance of the Festival. They set a deadline, it wasn’t met, and they cancelled the Festival.

What happens now? Plainly, we have work to do to get the Festival on in 2013. The work that is necessary to put the Festival on has to come from somewhere and we will do everything we can do find it. We will probably have to work within the contract drawn up by the Conservative/ICG administration, unfortunately, and this will involve John Laing Integrated Services taking money out for themselves/their shareholders. It's another reminder that this is what happens when the private sector comes in to organise public goods. We all know that this happens but it never hurts to remind ourselves that the effects are rarely pain-free. There’ll be a bill to council-tax payers and we have to find funding for this and other events of its kind. I've read on www.brentfordTW8.com tonight of proposals to have a Brentford Picnic on Sunday 2nd September and this seems a very good idea.

One personal thing. In their press release the organisers ask people to contact local councillors to make their views known. And thanks to all those who have. But I do wish that the organisers had got in touch with me to tell me about these problems before making their decision. I'm not guaranteeing that they could have been fixed, but we would have tried very hard. Certainly, at least some of the money had already been found. I have helped the Festival raise bits of money in the past and certainly would have tried had I been asked. As it is, I found out about all this when I read the Chronicle on Friday morning. Most of the organisers know me, I've helped the Festival in a couple of minor ways in the past, and would have tried to do so again. A call to say "We gave the Council a deadline and it's in two days and we've heard nothing" would have been acted on.

And to finish this off for now - the organisers of the Festival do an amazing job. There'll be more festivals and there'll be a need for volunteers to help run it. If you can help, let me know and I'll pass your details on.

+++++++++++++++++My ward colleague (and Deputy Leader of the Council) Ruth Cadbury adds the following:

I have started to get emails implying that the Council could have ensured the festival went ahead this summer. As with everything the truth is more complex. For my part, the organisers didn’t approach me for help when they were considering cancelling the 2012 Festival, due to be held the weekend after the August bank holiday. Nevertheless, because Brentford Festival is such an important event in the community calendar in Brentford, I did what I could as soon as I heard, to see if they would reconsider. In the last week, with 2 fellow Cabinet members (Pritam Grewal - lead on Leisure, and Sachin Gupta - lead on Communities) and officers, we have identified sufficient funds to cover those costs that JLIS are not prepared to cover. We have let the organisers know this, and the offer stands. However I accept that it is entirely within the rights of a community group to make their own decisions.

There is no doubt that it costs money to put on a large event in a public park. The funds for this have to come from somewhere, either from the trading profits, or from the Council, or its contractors. The former are too low if it is to remain a truly community event, the latter was no longer an option once JLIS enforced the terms of their contract. In my view the Council has a duty to cover the reasonable costs of an event that is put on for community benefit, rather than commercial gain. Clearly there can be a fine dividing line, but the overall flavour of the Brentford festival is of and for the local community. Getting that issue right isn’t straightforward; we know we need a Council policy and this is being drafted – and it will be in place in time for events planned for 2013. Meanwhile we are prepared to find funds (within reason) from community and leisure budgets, to cover reasonable requests for local community events already in the calendar for this year.++++++++++++++++++++++

And there's a statement from the Council:

A council spokesman said: “It was disappointing to hear that the Brentford Festival organisers had taken the decision to cancel this year’s event.

“I hope they will reconsider.

“Brentford residents and the London Borough of Hounslow value this event as we do all community events across the Borough. But there has to be a degree of acceptance that with events come costs that have to be covered.

“That said, I do not think this is a lost cause, so myself and local members, along with John Laing Integrated Services, will seek more discussions with the Festival organisers to see if we can find a common-sense solution to the issue.”

* Planning problems *

A series of planning applications have caused controversy in one part of the ward. In Brook Road South and just off Lateward Road you will find garages. The garages are owned by Hounslow Council and managed by Hounslow Homes. They are popular and there is a long waiting list.

Last month, applications were placed with the council to demolish the garages and build houses – one four-bed house on the Lateward road site and two three bedroom houses on Brook Road South. Tenants of the garages are unhappy, as are some local residents concerned about a number of issues including the stress on parking, design, security etc.

As unpopular as it may make me, I support the principle of turning garages into houses. As we all know, councils are under pressure like never before. One of the key pledges that we were voted in on was to provide 2,500 affordable homes. There is a possibility – and at the moment it is only a possibility, nothing has been decided – that garage sites can be developed into housing and those homes either provided as affordable housing of some kind or sold privately and the funds used to develop affordable housing elsewhere.

As for the applications themselves, I have suggested to objectors that they concentrate on key planning policy issues. Because the sites are in what we call a Conservation Area, there are two things to decide – should the garages be demolished, and do the proposed homes preserve and enhance the conservation area. Objectors will be glad to know that I am no part of the decision-making process. The planning committee for the Council will decide on the applications, probably at their meeting on March 26th, and that’s not a committee I’m on. It will then be up for the Council’s cabinet to decide whether to go ahead with the disposal of the garage sites and what form of housing (private, affordable etc) should go on them. I’m not on the cabinet either.

If you want to comment on these applications then you can do so by emailing planningcomments@hounslow.gov.uk

* Alfa Lavel *

An important planning issue over the last couple of years has been the future of the Alfa Lavel site.Following enquiries from Layton Road residents I received the following update from the architects last week:

++++++++++++++++++I am pleased to report that the Alfa Laval project has commenced with some enabling works being carried out including removing the scaffolding to the tower and some minor works to the site internally.

The anticipated start date for the main construction is the end of April, and the contract programme for the first phase (car park, affordable housing, two hotels and the Hyundai showroom) is about two and a half years. Phase two (private housing) may commence towards the end of phase 1, although the office building is problematic.

The final two hotel operators are still confidential and as soon as I can I will release the information.

The affordable housing is all signed up - with affordable housing provider A2 Dominion.

The tenant for the car showroom is all signed up - with Hyundai. We will also be making a planning application in the next few weeks for a temporary screen to the Hyundai showroom as they need some presence on the A4 during the Olympics and beyond as their unit will not be ready until 2013 - and I hope that this is supported.

We are struggling to get a tenant for the office building at this stage and perhaps it will never be let. We are also looking at changing the use of this office building at the corner of Ealing Road where it faces into the scheme into residential.

The private residential market is improving and this phase may well follow on from the first phase.++++++++++++++

There has been an application to allow the larger ads on the side of the Alfa Lavel tower. This is called a retrospective application, applying for something already in place. I have concerns over this – the trouble is, the building is so ugly that perhaps the adverts look better than the building. Your views are welcome.

* Reynards Mill *

Finally, for now, the Reynards Mill application. The planning officer tells me that, in his opinion, the principle concerns are the layout (and its implications of quality of communal amenity space), undersized gardens for the terraced housing, too many north facing single aspect rooms, inadequate on site parking and that the public park should be larger. Planning officers have said that these issues need to be addressed before we can move forward and the likelihood is that addressing these issues would result in a notable reduction in the number of units/building heights at the site.

The applicant is yet to tell us whether they will try and address these concerns and until they do (they have indicated towards the end of the month) the next steps are uncertain.

Thanks to those who have made it this far. Your views are always welcome.

Thanks for reading,

Matt