North London neighbourhood will have 885 flats built in 7 tower blocks up to 29 storeys tall

Plans for a new 885-home development in North West London have been approved, which means the construction of seven tower blocks up to 29 storeys high will go ahead. Those opposing the scheme raised concerns about its impact on GP surgeries and schools, as well as a lack of affordable housing numbers and the loss of a gym, whilst supporters claimed it will 'restore pride' in the area.

Atlip House Ltd, alongside developers KM-DC, have been given the go ahead to redevelop the Atlip Centre - a multi-purpose building comprising retail outlets, a banqueting hall, and a gym situated opposite Alperton Tube station - after plans were approved by Brent Council.

The council's Planning Committee approved the plans unanimously, with the first homes set to be delivered by 2028. The applicant, whose family also built the Atlip Centre, said the development - named Atlip Gardens - 'demonstrates our latest commitment to the borough' and claimed the 'high quality architecture' will 'set a new standard' for Alperton.

Residents and the ward councillor raised concerns about the impact the 885-home development could have on public services and the lack of affordable housing (Image: Haworthtompkins)

Community and commercial spaces will be built alongside the homes. Of the total 885 new homes, 441 are set to be 'co-living units' - made up of private studio apartments with shared communal areas - and 464 will be mixed-sized apartments.

Within the 464 homes, 60 will be available for London Affordable Rent, 28 for intermediate tenure and 376 for market sale. Of those homes for London Affordable Rent, 46 (82 per cent) will be three-bedroom, family sized homes, allocated through Brent's general needs housing register. With only 88 of the total homes being defined as 'affordable', that equates to about 10 per cent - well below Brent Council's target of 35 per cent.

However Alperton's recently elected ward councillor, Charlie Clinton, criticised the scheme for a loss of sunlight to surrounding buildings, a loss of a car park, its potential impact on GPs and schools, and not meeting the council's affordable housing targets.

Addressing the committee, Cllr Clinton said : “The development has been allowed to miss the target of 35 per cent affordable housing on the basis that the assumptions in the Local Plan are out of date. Given that another recent Alperton development was able to meet the threshold that would seem like a poor excuse."

In response to the criticism, the applicant said the 'economics could not support any affordable housing in this arrangement' but said the co-living building was introduced 'to address this' and had increased the affordable housing offer 'to 20 per cent'.

Cllr Clinton also pointed to the loss of the gym and wanted a guarantee of a replacement. He said the facility 'does matter to residents' and claims it has 'clear health benefits for the community'. However, the applicant responded by saying: "We don't think the loss of the gym is going to materially affect the health and wellbeing of residents. There are sufficient facilities in the area and we think that serves the local need."

Charlie Clinton was recently elected as the Liberal Democrat councillor for Alperton (Image: Brent Liberal Democrats)

In his closing remarks, Cllr Clinton said: "There are many demonstrable flaws with the proposal. Yes there are some good things but we can do better. Residents for the most part accept that [Alperton] does need regeneration but how you do it matters. Yes we need more homes, but a home needs more than four walls and a roof."

Further concerns were raised that the development could lead to further crime in the area. One resident suggested it will encourage more crime due to overcrowding. The Planning Committee Chair, Cllr Matt Kelcher, suggested that building more housing and people is 'the way to move away from antisocial behaviour and crime'.

The development was also praised by resident Tara Choudry, who has lived in Alperton since 1965 and runs her own business in the ward. She told the committee that the area has 'felt neglected for years' and the Atlip Centre had 'failed miserably' and become 'an eyesore'.

She said: "We must support new housing, families turn up at the Civic Centre every week in need of a home. Development is only a bad word until people move in and call it home. [...] The new development will help clean up the area, improving safety through natural surveillance via the residents. It will also provide high quality public spaces, giving the local community something to take pride in."

As part of the development, there will also be two new public spaces either side of Atlip Road, which would further link Ealing Road and the Grand Union Canal located to the south of the development site. A flexible community space for hire will be available at the ground floor of one of the blocks. The developers have also committed to contribute around £16.6m in Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payments for Brent and the Greater London Authority, which will include installing step-free access at Alperton station.

Don't miss out on the biggest stories from across the city: Sign up to MyLondon's The 12 HERE for the 12 biggest stories each day.

Adblock test (Why?)

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

Man 'jumps in front of North Circular traffic to escape police' during Chingford chase

A man has been arrested after allegedly jumping in front of oncoming traffic on the North Circular Road amid a police chase. Shortly after 4pm on Wednesday, March 12 the Metropolitan Police tried to stop a car on the busy road near Chingford.

Officers say the man was wanted by police, so a chase began after he failed to stop. When he reached the Crooked Billet Interchange he reportedly stopped and tried to flee the area on foot before falling from a wall.

The man was arrested by police and remains in police custody. London Ambulance Service confirmed paramedics treated two people for injuries and took one of them to hospital after it was called to reports of a man injured on the North Circular Road.

The North Circular was partially shut until 7pm while emergency services responded to the incident. This led to severe delays across Chingford, Walthamstow and Edmonton.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "At around 4.05pm on Wednesday, March 12, police attempted to stop a vehicle on the A406 in Chingford. The man in the car was believed to be wanted by police.

"The car failed to stop and a pursuit was authorised. The vehicle stopped close to Crooked Billet and the driver attempted to flee on foot before falling from a wall.

"The man was arrested on suspicion of driving offences. He remains in police custody. The road was partially closed to traffic."

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said:“We were called at 4.15pm yesterday (12 March) to reports of a person injured on the North Circular Road, Chingford.

"We sent an ambulance crew and an incident response officer to the scene. The ambulance arrived in less than four minutes. We treated two people at the scene and took one of them to hospital.”

Keep up with the latest East London news. Sign up to our MyEastLondon newsletter HERE for daily updates and more.

Adblock test (Why?)

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

Family of dad killed in Haringey beg witnesses to come forward so they can get justice

The family of a North London man who was stabbed to death have pleaded for witnesses to come forward. Gregory Castillo Volquez, 36, was killed in an alley near Tiverton Road, Haringey shortly before 5am on Monday, January 13.

Two men - Benito Ramirez Kones, 19, of Fermain Court East in Haggerston and Gabriel Francisco Pineda Gonzalez, 20, of High Trees in Tulse Hill - have been charged with his murder. The trial will begin at the Old Bailey on October 20.

Despite the charges, Metropolitan Police detectives need more information to help their investigation. The force said there may have been people in the area who saw the attack, and visited the scene of the alleged murder today (Wednesday, March 12) to encourage people to come forward.

Gregory Castillo Volquez was described as 'a much-loved son, father and friend' (Image: Met police)

Gregory's family said in a public statement: "Gregory was a much-loved son, father and friend, and his family is heartbroken by this loss. Even the smallest detail could be crucial. Please come forward and help us get justice for Gregory."

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Barry, who is leading the investigation, added: “This violent attack ripped a father away from his two children. Since January, the incident has massively impacted those close to Gregory and local residents.

“This is why it’s imperative we work together to secure justice. Anyone with information must share it with us, no matter how small they deem it to be.

"We are committed to working alongside those who provide statements throughout the judicial process.”

Anyone with information can contact the police using 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, quoting 809/13JAN. Alternatively, you can upload information to the Major Incident Public Portal.

Get the top stories from across London directly to your inbox. Sign up for MyLondon's The 12 HERE to get the biggest stories every day

Adblock test (Why?)

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

'Very worrying' Silvertown Tunnel sign sparks fear over toll with less than month until opening

Concerns have been raised at City Hall as data suggests only 1,131 Londoners, businesses and charities have applied for discounts to drive through the Silvertown and Blackwall tunnels. Low-income Londoners in boroughs near the soon-to-open Silvertown Tunnel and the neighbouring Blackwall Tunnel are eligible for a 50 per cent discount on the charge to cross the river.

Small businesses, sole traders and charities are meanwhile entitled to get £1 off the tunnels' off-peak charge. But according to data published by Sir Sadiq Khan's office, only 904 residents and 227 businesses and charities had applied for the discounts, as of February 17. The application window to 'pre-register' for the discounts opened on January 27.

Hina Bokhari, the London Assembly's Liberal Democrat group leader, said the "low take-up" was "very worrying", and urged the Mayor to "ensure local people are fully aware of the discounts available to them". The Mayor's office said Transport for London (TfL) has "launched a comprehensive multi-channel campaign" to raise awareness of the discounts and is trying to reach "as many people as possible".

Hina Bokhari AM (Image: London Assembly)

The Silvertown Tunnel will open on April 7, and will link Silvertown, close to Canning Town, with the Greenwich Peninsula, south of the Thames. It will cost £4 to use the tunnel at peak hours, and £1.50 at off-peak times. Between 10pm and 6am each night, it will be free to use.

The neighbouring 128-year-old Blackwall Tunnel, which is currently free to use, will have the same charges applied to it from the day that the Silvertown Tunnel opens. The low income residents discount is available to Londoners living in 13 boroughs north and south of the tunnel who are in receipt of certain benefits. These include income support, universal credit, pension credit or housing benefit.

According to the statistics released by Sir Sadiq in response to a written question from Ms Bokhari, a total of 779 residents had applied for the discount. A further 125 people had applied without providing all of the required evidence – for example, because they may have only recently moved to the area, so may be lacking proof of address.

The off-peak discount for charities and small businesses is more limited, as it only applies to those in Greenwich, Newham and Tower Hamlets, rather than the further 10 boroughs covered by the residents discount. As of February 17, only 53 applications had been received from Tower Hamlets, with a further 73 in Newham and 101 in Greenwich. It is unclear how many of the total 1,131 discount applications were successful, or how many have already been rejected.

"The low take-up of discounts for low income East Londoners and local businesses around the Silvertown Tunnel is very worrying," said Ms Bokhari. "The Mayor doesn't like talking about the Silvertown Tunnel, which is why we call it his 'dirty little secret', but his lack of openness about it means not enough Londoners know about the discounts they could apply for, or even that a toll will exist. It's simply not good enough.

"The tunnel is an environmental and financial millstone for East Londoners and the Mayor should be doing more to own up to the impacts it will have, and ensure local people are fully aware of discounts available to them."

Sir Sadiq claims the new tunnel will improve air quality and congestion in the area. He has said Londoners should be "incredibly proud" of it – dubbing it a "great piece of infrastructure" which will "transform" lives. But campaigners opposed to the project say it will in fact increase congestion, pollution and carbon emissions – and point to TfL modelling which suggested roughly 100,000 motorists a day will continue to use the Blackwall Tunnel – and 15,000 to 30,000 a day will use the new Silvertown Tunnel.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said extensive efforts have been made to communicate the discounts to East Londoners (Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)

Speaking at a TfL board meeting on February 5, TfL's Chief Customer and Strategy Officer Alex Williams admitted: "Uptake [for discounts] is not as great as I'd like, so we're looking at more communication work on that, but [the applications system] is open and functioning."

At the same meeting, TfL commissioner Andy Lord encouraged all board members to do their bit to raise awareness of the discounts when talking to East Londoners about the Silvertown Tunnel. In a separate written response to Ms Bokhari, Sir Sadiq said: "Messaging explaining the low-income and business discount is appearing in local press, radio, and online video, supported by a general discounts message in video on demand channels.

"In addition, over 1.5m leaflets have been delivered to residents in 13 East London boroughs, over 80,000 leaflets have been direct mailed to businesses in Greenwich, Newham and Tower Hamlets where the business discount will be available, and 35,000 leaflets have been printed for face-to-face distribution in high footfall locations such as shopping centres, markets, car parks, supermarkets and builders markets.

"Over 2.8 million emails have been sent to customers on the TfL database including local residents and businesses. Information is also available on TfL's website. TfL is also working closely with its stakeholders including boroughs, assembly members, MPs and those representing low-income Londoners, businesses and disability and accessibility stakeholders, to ensure that messaging around pre-registration and the discounts available reaches as many people as possible."

Adblock test (Why?)

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

'Unacceptable' Met Police officer fired for pulling colleague's hair after day at races

A Metropolitan Police officer has been fired after making racist comments and pulling the hair of a colleague at a police outing to a horse racing day out. PC Shaun Davies was also found to have pulled "his eyes up in an obvious attempt to mock and squint like a Chinese person" at an East Asian colleague in a separate incident at a Christmas party.

PC Davies, who was serving on the response team at Islington Police Station at the time, was dismissed without notice and added to the College of Policing’s barred list after a misconduct hearing, which was held between February 3 to 13 and the outcome published earlier this month. Chief Superintendent Andrew Carter, responsible for policing for the Central North Command Unit, said: “The behaviour displayed by PC Shaun Davies is wholly unacceptable.

"We are committed to ensuring that actions do have consequences and anyone who displays such views is not fit to serve in our organisation. It’s right that he has been dismissed with immediate effect.”

The complaints made against PC Davies

The panel said that "senior officers did not take the complaints of Officers A and B seriously enough" when the allegations first came to light. He was finally held accountable when one of the victims who suffered abuse at the Derby at Epsom Downs Racecourse in 2010 broke down at a Metropolitan Police talk aimed at tackling unacceptable conduct from officers in 2022.

Officer B, of East Asian origin, said that Davies had pulled his eyes back to mock her appearance in a display of racism during a police party in 2009.

Officer A said PC Davies called her a “P**i” and said her dad owned a corner shop while at the Derby at Epsom Downs Racecourse on June 5, 2010. He repeatedly made derogatory racist comments to her throughout the day, the panel heard.

Later on, at a Walkabout bar in Covent Garden, she described how he “grabbed hold of her hair”. While Officer A alleged that PC Davies had “dragged her across the pub floor”, the panel did not find this to be true as the panel said it may have been the case that intervention by a fellow officer caused her to fall to the floor, if this did happen.

Officer A described someone pulling PC Davies off of her before running to get her jacket and leaving the pub. She says the next day she received a text from PC Davies apologising for his drunken behaviour, although this has not been possible to recover due to the passage of time since the events.

When Officer A returned to work the next week PC Davies said out loud that she had called him a ‘f****t’ over the weekend, the court heard. She said that she believed this to be an attempt to cover up his behaviour.

Officer A then claims to have told her line manager about the assault. The two were then put in a room together, and while she doesn’t remember if PC Davies apologised she accepted that she did give him a hug. While no one apart from Officer A claimed to have seen the racial insults made at Epsom racecourse, an officer did come forward to say they had seen the assault at Walkabout Bar.

'One of the most disgusting behaviours'

DS McGeouch, who says he grabbed PC Davies and threw him away from Officer A, says it was "one of the most disgusting behaviours he had ever witnessed." There were also a number of written statements from police who said they did not see anything happen at the races or at Walkabout Bar.

However, the panel said it did not necessarily accept these as true as some of the officers "may have feared being ostracised within the group or how PC Davies would have reacted had he found out about their disloyalty." The panel heard from several witnesses during the hearing but after considering all the evidence that PC Shaun Davies has made racially offensive comments and pulled Officer A’s hair.

Officer B, who had been mocked by Davies at the Police Christmas party in 2009, says she complained to an inspector who attempted to resolved the matter at a pub outing when he shouted that "PC Davies had something to say to her and PC Davies said ‘I’m sorry’.” Officer B considered that the informal way that this was done was not satisfactory and the matter was effectively “brushed under the carpet."

PC Davies, who denies the allegations, was also able to provide testimonials from at least 17 different friends and colleagues that proved he was well thought of by them. His partner, Stuart Fields, also stated that he had not seen any altercation at the 2010 Derby, but the panel found him not to be an independent witness due to his close nature with PC Davies.

Got a story? Please get in touch at katherine.gray@reachplc.com

Get the top stories from across London directly to your inbox. Sign up for MyLondon's The 12 HERE to get the biggest stories every day.

Adblock test (Why?)

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

Easter bank holiday weekend train disruption in London - with some stations closed

Easter railway passengers are set to experience severe rail disruption with lines blocked across London. Engineering works across South London will mostly impact journeys towards London Victoria, while other transport hubs will also be affected.

Network Rail said a number of critical upgrades are needed during the four-day bank holiday weekend. The rebuilding of a busy railway junction in Battersea will include the laying of 6km of new signalling and telecommunications cables.

A new signalling system will also be put in place in Lewisham, along with new track on the Bromley North Line.

Full breakdown of Easter disruption

• Southeastern trains to and from London Victoria will be diverted to Cannon Street, Charing Cross or Blackfriars from Friday, April 18 to Monday, April 21. The Brixton National Rail station will also be closed.
• A reduced Southern service will run from London Victoria to both Clapham Junction and East Croydon with no trains calling at Battersea Park. Customers for London Victoria should travel to Clapham Junction, then change for a train towards London Victoria.
• Trains which usually run between London Victoria and London Bridge will also not run, nor trains between London Bridge and Epsom.
• Journeys which usually run between London Victoria and either Littlehampton or Eastbourne will be diverted to run to and from London Bridge.
• Trains that usually run between London Victoria and Reigate will be amended to run between Redhill and Reigate only with passengers asked to use alternative Southern or Thameslink trains to travel between London and Redhill.

David Davidson, Network Rail’s Kent route director, said: “This Easter we are continuing to upgrade the railway for passengers with major projects in the Battersea and Lewisham areas, and between Eastbourne and Hastings.

“While we are reminding people to plan ahead and check their journey, more than 90% of the network is open and trains are running. If your route is affected, bus replacements are available, and tickets will be accepted on alternative services.

“Thank you to customers for your patience while we work to modernise track, signalling, stations, structures and earthworks, keeping people moving for decades to come. This is the least worst time to complete these works and continue to invest in our growing railway as part of our continued drive to improve performance.”

Stay updated on the latest travel news for London's roads, trains, and buses with our London Traffic and Travel newsletter. Sign up HERE

Adblock test (Why?)

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)