Second Copy to Brent Review Attachments: Bhcooppartysubmission2018revised2.Docx; Bhcooppartysubmissionnorth2018.Docx
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Sent: 05 November 2018 13:18 To: reviews Subject: Second Copy to Brent Review Attachments: BHCoopPartySubmission2018revised2.docx; BHCoopPartySubmissionNorth2018.docx Dear Sir I am just sending second copies of the Brent and Harrow Cooperative Party submissions as I am not clear that you have received the first copies. Please find attached. One covers the north and one the south of the Borough Yours sincerely, James Powney Chair Brent and Harrow Cooperative Party 1 Brent & Harrow Cooperative Party Submission for Local Government Boundaries in the London Borough of Brent South of the North Circular Road 1 Introduction This is a submission to the Local Government Commission for Boundaries in England on behalf of Brent and Harrow Cooperative Party, an affiliate of the Labour Party. It proposes a pattern of wards in line with the Commission’s recommended electoral variance and taking good account of the major barrier of the North Circular Road, major boundaries such as railway lines and centres of community activity. A Note on the Cooperative Party in Brent The Cooperative Party is a well established feature of UK politics in general and Brent and Harrow in particular. It was founded in 1917 as an entirely independent party, but entered into an electoral pact with the Labour Party in the 1920s, and this has been maintained ever since. It has been legally registered as a political party ever since such a registration was required. The party currently has 37 MPs, making it the third largest Party in the House of Commons. It is also represented at all levels of UK government including 16 peers, six MSPs, 11 Welsh Assembly members and many hundreds of local councillors. In addition to those elected as “Labour and Cooperative” there are many elected representatives who are individually members of the Party without being formally elected as such, including most of the Labour Assembly members in London. In Brent, the Cooperative Party had three councillors formally elected as Labour and Cooperative although a number of other councillors are members of the Party individually. The Party itself has been continuously active in Brent politics since at least the early 1950s, and held first the Willesden West seat and then Brent South for much of the post war period. More can be found out about the Cooperative Party at https://party.coop/about/. A Note on Methodology The basis of these numbers are the polling district population estimates on the Commission web site for 2024. In many cases it has been necessary to vary from existing polling district boundaries. This has been done using the existing (2018) electoral registration rolls on a street by street basis. It is proposed that where a ward uses a street as a boundary, it should either run down the middle of the street or (if both sides of the road are included) the boundary should be the fence line. We also believe that a pattern of boundaries should be free to use both three and two member wards. Given the number of barriers in the Boroughs, this sort of flexibility is needed if communities are to be adequately represented. Criteria for Decision As well as the Commission’s statutory criteria there is a central decision that will shape the pattern of wards in the Borough, that is whether to use the River Brent as the most important boundary (as in 2000) or the North Circular Road. The River Brent was the historical boundary between the Boroughs of Wembley and Willesden when they merged to form Brent in 1965. It has little more than historical importance however, and the public at large have little awareness of what is essentially a small stream. The 2000 review itself ignored its presence to cross the River in Welsh Harp ward. 2 The North Circular Road, by contrast, is a major boundary especially to pedestrians. The Importance of the North Circular Road The North Circular Road (NCR) is crossable by both vehicles and pedestrians at the extreme southern end of the Borough between Stonebridge and Tokyngton, and at the “IKEA” junction at the very northern end of the existing Stonebridge ward, but at no point between. It therefore cuts Stonebridge ward in half completely making the St Raphaels an entirely isolated and standalone community on its Stonebridge side. It also serves to cut off the southern tip of Welsh Harp ward (CWH6) creating an entirely distinct area to the south of the main body of Welsh Harp ward. Proceeding eastward there is a very minor pedestrian footbridge on to an industrial estate from the residential area of Dollis Hill at Kenwyn Drive and no further crossing point until the unwalkable junction around Staples corner at the eastern boundary of Brent. The IKEA junction is itself unwelcoming to both vehicular traffic and to pedestrians. For vehicles it does not allow simple crossing but requires a complicated roundabout route to get from north to south or vice versa. This is routinely subject to traffic jams. The pollution and fears of road safety make it unpleasant for pedestrians to cross, and the timings of the lights mean that they can cross in one go but must remain exposed in the midst of the traffic halfway. It is also widely regarded as a barrier to increasing cycling in the Borough. The crossability of the NCR was a major controversy during the 2000 review, features in transport debates in the Borough in general and has seen no significant progress in the last twenty years. Brent’s planners are assuming that the road will get worse following the projected expansion of the Brent Cross development in Barnet. Car Usage in Brent The difficulty of crossing the North Circular Road is further emphasised by the relatively low car ownership in Brent. According to the 2011 Census, 43% of Brent households did not own a car or van. This figure splits out by ward in the table below. Ward No car or van in Household Alperton 35.6% Barnhill 33.6% Brondesbury 46.2% Dollis Hill 34.0% Dudden Hill 43.0% Fryent 28.3% Harlesden 60.5% Kensal Green 52.2% Kenton 19.7% Kilburn 62.7% Mapesbury 53.1% Northwick Park 25.6% Preston 30.9% 3 Queens Park 47.1% Queensbury 24.8% Stonebridge 50.6% Sudbury 36.7% Tokyngton 40.2% Welsh Harp 35.1% Wembley Central 43.7% Willesden Green 59.3% Lack of access to a car for this large minority makes the NCR still more of a barrier than it already appears. Summary of Wards Below is a summary of all the proposed wards for Brent South of the North Circular Road. As the existing Kensal Green would be redistributed between Harlesden, Queens Park and a little to Brondesbury it is shown as zero. Ward Tot Total in Total Net Added Take Per % al all PD Street n Cllr varienc Cllr Number Awa e s s y Brondesbury 2 8,342 9,242 -900 563 1,46 4,171 -3% Park 3 Dollis Hill 3 12,940 12,940 0 0 0 4,313 0% Dudden Hill 3 11,598 9,494 2,104 2,104 0 3,866 -10% Harlesden 3 13,293 13,836 -543 453 996 4,431 3% Kensal Green 0 0 0 0 0 0 na na Kilburn 3 12,581 12,581 0 0 0 4,194 -3% Mapesbury 3 11,952 12,123 -171 0 171 3,984 -8% Queens Park 3 13,723 14,286 -563 0 563 4,574 6% Stonebridge 3 11,763 10,112 1,651 1,651 0 3,921 -9% Willesden Green 3 11,674 10,211 1,463 1,463 0 3,891 -10% Remarks on Wards Dollis Hill Ward Once one accepts the importance of NCR as a barrier, it forms a good hard border for a three member Dollis Hill ward to the North. The Borough Boundary performs the same function to the East. The current Dollis Hill has an important existing boundary to the south of it in the railway line that runs from Cricklewood Bus Garage through Gladstone Park and across to Neasden. This has very few crossing points, making a good natural boundary. The only crossing points are (from east to west) the A5 at Cricklewood bus garage, a small footbridge in Gladstone Park on the eastern side that is unsuitable for vehicular traffic, an iron pedestrian bridge at the extreme western end of the park and Dudden Hill Lane itself. 4 The Cricklewood bus garage point is harder to cross for pedestrians then it might appear from a map, because it is extremely wide at this point. Going from south to north the last residential properties occur at Temple Road, there is then an expanse of commercial property with numerous vehicular movements due to the car park provided and the bus garage. Two railway lines have to be crossed as the railway line splits in two, and the first entry point into Dollis Hill itself is still further to the north at Gladstone Park Gardens. Even with a vehicle, the A5 is not a particularly good connector between the south and the north of the railway line as the only turning off points are Temple Road and down on Walm Lane on what is often a traffic clogged road which is likely to become more so as the Brent Cross development moves forward. The first pedestrian bridge in Gladstone Park is suitable for pedestrians and cyclists but not designed as a major traffic point, and the iron footbridge near Aberdeen Road is designed with stairs on either side making it unsuitable for cyclists or disabled people.