Asda Wembley Has To Stop Its Lorries from Endangering Pedestrians

In October 2010, I summarised Brent Green Party's success in getting Asda to recognise the urgent need for pedestrian safety when organising its lorry deliveries. In April 2009, after two years of campaigning and a public apology, we thought case closed - epitomised in the physical evidence of signage on the redesigned access area (pictured above). Alas, though less frequent, infractions still happen. On 2 Nov 2010, I got the following reassurance from Head office:

"I have now forwarded your pictures to the stores management team as well as our store development team. They will be able to look at ways of minimising any pedestrian danger when passing between the vehicles on the road. Thank you for taking the time to bring this matter to our attention." (2 Nov 2010)

Unfortunately, here is evidence of further infractions from last night (2 Sept 2011):

I spoke to these pedestrians last night (at 10pm) and they acknowledged that they had just been forced into the main road by this lorry jutting out and blocking the drop kerb crossing, and endangered in the process. How can Asda consistently get away with road safety violations that your common-or-garden motorist would have been booked for, if not towed away, many a time?These are double yellow, no-loading, no-stopping kerb markings, operational all hours. To make matters worse, there was no driver visible in the cabin. I have written again to Asda.

London Living Wage Campaign and Brent Council

The Greens have actively campaigned on the right of workers to a living wage across London. The London living wage is currently £8.30 per hour. On Friday 2 September, I heard from fellow workers in the University of London, Bloomsbury. Pictured: Fadili, Robinson, Samba and Paolo.

Closer to home, Brent Council also has not made this commitment to its employees and subcontracted workers. Yet the local Labour group campaigned ahead of last year's elections that if they gained control of Brent Council they would: "Conduct an audit of Council contractors to examine how many people indirectly employed by the Council are earning the London Living Wage." And? Instead we see jobs being axed in order to support a financially impossible £100m Civic Centre project that nobody wants or needs.

Back-of-Envelope Civic Centre Finances Revealed

On 14 July 2001, I advertised that I had requested from Brent Council financial data for the civic centre project, under Freedom of Information law. Unfortunately, I find their response dated 9 August 2011 wholly inadequate. Here it is.
2011-08-10MrAliFOIInformationsupplied[1] To make matters worse, the covering letter to the response stated:

Brent Council: "Following careful consideration, [Brent Council] can inform you that we have decided not to disclose some of this information. [We] attach a copy of the information which can be disclosed in the form of a pdf file. The remainder of the information you requested is being withheld.

The exemption applied is Commercial Interests (public interest test) section 43. This exemption applies because it applies to trade secrets and to information which if disclosed would, or would likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person, including the authority holding it." (10 Aug 2011)

I have since written to the local papers, and replied to the Council themselves. Here is the gist of my follow-up to the Council:

SA: "Thank you for your FOI response. Unfortunately, I do have a number of follow-up questions, which I feel should have been covered in your original reply but have not been. Allow me to put them here:

- What is the cost of the Civic Centre? Remarkably this is not in there.
- What is the cost of financing the debt?
- What is "the most recent financial assessment of the project benefits"?
- How is the £89m figure quoted made up in terms of "reduction of operating costs" and "other efficiency savings"?
- On what basis has the "risk adjusted" figure of £2.85m per year over 25 years been arrived at?

I was looking for a response more akin to a balance sheet, showing income and expenditure over the lifetime of the project. Moreover, any reference to other documents should surely be referenced - and means of access to further data given, or hyperlinked where appropriate - and it not be assumed that the enquirer knows what is being referred to. Certainly, no prior knowledge should be assumed and the response should be self-contained and inclusive."

The good people of Brent await a High court ruling to have the Council's reckless decision to axe half the borough's libraries overturned. By such means the Council sought to save £1m. Since, on their own inadequate terms, Brent seeks to make savings of £2.85m per year over the next 25 years, to make the Civic Centre work, are we not entitled to know what further "efficiency savings" lie in store for us?

For an informative overview of the most recent Council budget, with reference to the Civic Centre, read my colleague Martin Francis. The full budget documents are still available as appendicies here. In particular, note that on page 3 of Appdx. B, the income line (red parentheses) is without evidential basis.

Previous Soapbox slot on why the Civic Centre is such a bad idea. Recent press letter, Harrow Times: How will this be paid for?.

Brent Voter Registration Happening!

Last year, I described the flawed voter registration process of Brent Council. This year, I'm happy to report that the on-line method did work (evidence revealed above, click to enlarge), and was painless! As of today, at least. Since, on 7 Aug 2011, a Brent registree did report problems on this blog. It seems they must have been rectified. Here's to trouble-free registration for everybody else this year!

Nuclear Trains Action: Green GLA Candidate Interviewed

The Nuclear Trains Action Group organised a successful day of action on 23 July 2011, converging at Stratford station. There were speeches (including myself for the Greens) and song, followed by a die-in (pictured). News was also given of a temporary stalling of trains during the Olympic games.

I was subsequently interviewed by Pete Day of NuSound radio, who has kindly sent me a copy of the audio file for this blog:



This campaign is of ongoing concern for Brent residents. Our latest information is that Willesden is still used as a transit point. Greens have been campaigning on this for several years (see press release of 1999), including a recent question to the Mayor by Darren Johnson AM. Was the Mayor's reply adequate?