📅 Date for your diary
Brent Safer Neighbourhood Board Public Meeting
🗓 26 Jan 2026 | ⏰ 6:30–9pm
📍 Brent Civic Centre
Open meeting with police & council on local safety.
See flyer for more details!
Join Meeting To Reduce Antisocial Behaviour
KRRA Christmas Newsletter – December 2025 🎄
The Kensal Rise Residents Association Christmas Newsletter is now available to download.
This edition looks back on recent months in Kensal Rise and the wider Queen’s Park Ward, with updates on 🚦 transport and traffic issues, 🏗️ planning and development, 👮 community safety, and 🌱 local environmental initiatives. We also celebrate the many 🎶 festive events that took place locally, and pay tribute 🌿 to valued members of our community.
As always, the newsletter reflects both the concerns raised by residents and the strong sense of community that defines Kensal Rise.
📄 Download the Christmas Newsletter (PDF)
🎄✨ We wish all our residents a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2026.
Petition Delivered: 1,241 Residents Call on Brent to Withdraw the Kingswood–Salusbury ETO Scheme
17 November 2025 – Brent Civic Centre
Earlier today, Sanjay Azim Nazerali presented a petition signed by 1,241 residents calling on Brent Council to withdraw the current Experimental Traffic Order (ETO) operating between Kingswood Avenue and Salusbury Road.
The petition states:
“We the undersigned petition the council to withdraw the latest ETO scheme running between Kingswood Avenue and Salusbury Road until a plan is presented with clear benefits that prioritise the health, safety, equality, prosperity and quality of life for the entire neighbourhood, based on majority community support, evidence-based planning, transparent decision-making, and value for money… The current ETO is a similarly unhelpful and divisive scheme, which unfairly prioritises a few streets while displacing traffic onto neighbouring streets — including Chamberlayne Road and Salusbury Road, where thousands of children go to school.”
This ePetition ran from 11/09/2025 to 05/11/2025 and has now finished.
Total signatures: 1241
This follows a previous petition of 1,401 residents objecting to the earlier QPHN proposals, which many felt was inaccurately represented in Council reporting as having “welcomed the scheme” — something that Sanjay described as “factually untrue” in his presentation.
🖥️ Watch the presentation
The session is now available via the Council’s webcast archive.
It begins at approximately 2:45 into the meeting:
🔗 https://brent.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/1024882
➡️ And Sanjay’s speech in full is included at the end of this post.
Key message to Cabinet:
“These ETOs have created deep and lasting division in our community. They have created a two–tier ward, in which the relief enjoyed by a few has created a commensurate level of pain for their neighbours… This thorn in our side is not going away.”
— Sanjay Nazerali, Cabinet address
Governance Concerns Raised
Sanjay told Cabinet that trust has been damaged by:
- A report that misrepresented residents’ views.
- A formal complaint being handled by the same officer who authored the report — a process which he argued breaches Brent’s own complaints policy.
- Ward councillors not responding when asked whether resident feedback had been accurately represented.
He stated:
“When asked to answer a simple question — ‘do you believe your constituents’ views were fairly represented?’ — there was a deafening silence from all of them.”
Ward Councillor Role: FOI Correspondence
Recent Freedom of Information (FOI) disclosures show that ward councillors were not merely observers of ETO development but participants in forming the early direction and proposals.
For example, in March and June 2022, Cllr Neil Nerva, Cllr Eleanor Southwood, and Cllr Stephen Crabb engaged directly with residents and officers regarding targeted restrictions around Summerfield and Dudley roads, including discussions of no-entry timed filters and trial schemes.
This correspondence shows councillors:
- organising site visits at peak hours,
- requesting exploration of timed no-entry measures, and
- communicating with residents advocating for rat-run prevention.
This indicates that ward councillors, including Cllr Nerva, were active participants in shaping the approach, not commentators distancing themselves from decisions after the fact.
A leadership gap?
Despite this documented involvement, many residents report that Cllr Nerva has remained absent from community discussion spaces, including the major One Neighbourhood WhatsApp forum, where ETO impacts are debated daily. Residents have expressed disappointment that he has not provided visible leadership, updates, or a consistent explanation of his position.
Why Residents Say the ETO is Divisive
The petition argues that the scheme:
- benefits a small cluster of streets while pushing congestion elsewhere;
- increases morning traffic on Salusbury Road and Chamberlayne Road, along routes used by schoolchildren;
- creates a sense of winners and losers, undermining neighbourhood cohesion.
Sanjay summarised:
“We now have a socially regressive policy that has eroded trust in the Council’s commitment to transparency… cancel this divisive and unfair ETO and develop holistic solutions that benefit the many, not the few.”
Council Response
Cllr Krupa Sheth, Cabinet Member, acknowledged the petition and stated that Brent will review:
- monitoring data,
- traffic surveys,
- air quality evidence, and
- 575+ community submissions.
What Happens Next?
Residents have asked Brent to:
- Remove the current ETO.
- Publish clear evidence of impact.
- Convene a neutral community-wide engagement process.
- Develop an approach anchored in equity, majority consent, and transparent governance.
Conclusion
This petition marks another major moment in a now years-long debate around traffic interventions in Queens Park. The scale of support reflects a community still seeking a plan that feels fair, evidence-based, and genuinely participatory.
What is clear is that the issue is not only about traffic, but about trust, representation, and the social fabric of the neighbourhood.
📣 Filming at Morty & Bob’s – College Rd NW10
📅 Thu 20 Nov (8am–7pm) setup
🎥 Fri 21 Nov (8am–9pm) filming
Some parking bays suspended; no roads/pavements/business entrances will be blocked.
Issues: Contact Simon (Location Manager)
📞 07970 719133
📧 simon@simonhassard.com
Brent Film Office if needed: 0208 937 4817 / filming@brent.gov.uk
🌼 Kensal Rise in Bloom – Bulb Planting Success! 🌼
Yesterday saw the second community bulb-planting session led by local residents in the Station Terrace area and beyond — another wonderful show of community spirit and teamwork!
A huge thank you to Kara, Peter, and all the fantastic volunteers who joined in to plant, dig, or donate bulbs. The Kensal Rise Residents Association (KRRA) is delighted to continue supporting this resident-led initiative and has now donated approximately 420 daffodil bulbs since the project began! 🌼
We can’t wait to see Station Terrace and surrounding streets bursting with golden daffodils this spring — a true celebration of local pride and collaboration.
📅 Next bulb-planting session: Friday, 13 December, 9am–1pm
📍 Meeting point: By Kensal Rise Overground (Station Terrace)
Come along, bring your gloves, and help make Kensal Rise bloom!
🚫 Stop the Kensal Towers – Protect Our Community 🚫
⏰ Deadline to Object: 19 September 2025
All objections must be submitted by this date – don’t miss it!
Why KRRA Objects
The Kensal Triangle Residents Association (KTRA) is leading the local campaign against the proposed Kensal Gasworks development. The Kensal Rise Residents Association (KRRA) is also submitting a formal objection because this scheme would cause unacceptable harm to our community.
Whilst we recognise the need for new housing, this development is not the solution: it represents overdevelopment without the infrastructure to support it, threatens already congested roads, worsens air quality, provides no guaranteed genuinely affordable homes, and would damage the character of the local area.
👉 Read the KRRA’s full response below – and make sure you submit your objection before 19 September 2025.
📢 Quick Summary
🚧 What’s planned?
- 6 towers up to 🏙️ 31 storeys
- Nearly 🏘️ 900 flats crammed in
- 👷 10 years of construction next to Sainsbury’s
❌ Why we object:
- 🚗 Roads already at breaking point (Chamberlayne, Ladbroke Grove, Harrow Rd)
- 🌫️ Air pollution hotspots will worsen
- 🏫 No new schools or GP services for thousands of extra residents
- 🏘️ “Affordable housing” not guaranteed to be genuinely affordable
- 🏞️ Heritage and canal corridor harmed by towers out of scale
📢 KRRA says: This is overdevelopment without the infrastructure to support it.
👉 Read the KRRA’s full response below.
👉 Or act now: Submit your objection here
👉 ⏰ Remember: the deadline is 19 September 2025.
✍️ Objection Paragraph (for you to copy/paste)
“Whilst recognising the urgent need for new housing in London, I object to planning application PP/25/03535 (Kensal Gasworks, Ladbroke Grove). The scheme represents overdevelopment – nearly 900 homes in towers up to 31 storeys – on a site served only by congested roads (Ladbroke Grove, Chamberlayne Road, Harrow Road). The transport case is incomplete and unproven, air quality and road safety will worsen, social infrastructure is missing, and heritage assets will be harmed. For these reasons, I urge RBKC to refuse this application.”
👉 Copy this into the RBKC planning portal to make your voice heard in under 2 minutes.
👉 ⏰ Final deadline: 19 September 2025.
🚨 *URGENT: STOP THE GASWORKS MEGA-DEVELOPMENT* 🚨
Developers want to build 6 huge towers ( *up to 31 storeys* , nearly 900 flats) on the old gasworks site at Ladbroke Grove by Sainsbury’s.
We all know London needs homes — *but this is NOT the solution:*
🚗 Chamberlayne, Ladbroke Grove & Harrow Rd already gridlocked
🌫️ Air pollution hotspots will get worse
🚧 10 YEARS of construction disruption (dust, HGV traffic, noise)
🏘️ No guarantee of truly affordable homes
📢 Have your say before it’s too late!
👉 Object here: http://www.keepkensalgreen.com/objection-1
👉 *Deadline: 19 September*
✊ Together we can stop overdevelopment and protect our community.
Lead Petitioner: Kensal Triangle Residents Association
⚡Please forward this message to at least 5 neighbours or friends.
🎬 Filming Notification – Purves Road
📍 Location: 128 Purves Road
📅 Date: Wednesday, 17th September 2025
📌 Schedule:
- Tuesday 16th September
⏰ 08:00 – 19:00 → Preparation (Interior) - Wednesday 17th September
⏰ 09:00 – 13:00 → Filming (Interior)
⏰ 13:00 – 17:00 → Reinstatement
👥 Around 60 cast & crew will be on site.
🚚 Some technical trucks & vans will be present, with limited parking dispensations on Purves Road & Langler Road.
💡 Important Notes:
- Access to all homes and businesses will always be maintained.
- The production is supported by the Brent Film Office and the British Film Commission.
- 📞 Contact:
- Assistant Location Manager: Joa Siqi Yang
📧 joasiqi77@gmail.com | 📱 07563 822720 - Brent Film Office: filming@brent.gov.uk | 020 8937 4817
🙏 Thank you for your patience and support — filming is only possible with your cooperation!
🍂 Kensal Rise Autumn Newsletter is Out! 📰✨
We’re excited to share the Autumn 2025 edition of the Kensal Rise Residents Association Newsletter! It’s full of local updates, community highlights, and ways to get involved — from our Saturday Farmers’ Market proposal 🥕 to the call for a proper post-Carnival deep clean 🎭, plus a heartfelt community tribute to Viv Hardy 💐.
You’ll also find updates on bus issues, policing priorities, conservation, and local events — all reflecting the energy and commitment of our amazing community.
👉 The full newsletter is available to read at the end of this message.
Let’s keep Kensal Rise vibrant, safe, and connected! 🌟
🚦 Have your say on Brent’s streets, roads, buses & cycling! 🚦
Survey by Brent Council, open now for all residents.
It’s part of the national NHT survey used by councils across the UK to compare performance and improve services. Every response helps shape how Brent plans for transport and streets 🚍🚴♀️🚦
👉 Worth filling in — and sharing with others too!
Kensal Rise Residents' Association 