A North London council has approved plans to invest more than £14m in improvements to the borough’s roads and parks, as well as installing more CCTV.
Brent Council said residents will “see, feel, and benefit” from the additional funding with plans to upgrade roads, footpaths, playgrounds and security cameras.
But opposition councillors claim the state of the borough “has never been worse” and they have been pushing for this kind of investment for years.
Earlier this week (July 28), Brent Council’s Cabinet approved plans to use around £14.5m of Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy (SCIL) money to fund local improvement projects as new residents and visitors are set to move in.
The SCIL is money paid by developers when new building projects are approved, which is meant to be used to make sure the local infrastructure, like schools and roads, can support the population increase.
What is the money being spent on?
Around £10.6m of the SCIL money will be spent on highway maintenance, including repairing “pothole-ridden carriageways [and] uneven footways”, as well as upgrading street lighting and removing tree stumps to make streets “safer and more accessible”.
A further £730,000 will go towards park and playground improvements, which will see upgrades to footpaths and replacement play equipment. It comes following the announcement that two parks and one community garden in the borough have been awarded Green Flag status, with the award given to King Edwards VII park in Wembley, Bramshill Open Space, and Roe Green Walled Garden.
Funds of £3.1m has been allocated to “expand and modernise” Brent’s CCTV network. This will involve the replacement of 130 outdated analogue cameras with digital models to “improve coverage and image quality”. The council says this will help tackle crime, fly-tipping, and antisocial behaviour.
Cabinet Member for Environment and Enforcement, Cllr Krupa Sheth, said: “This investment is about more than just resurfacing roads or replacing cameras, it’s about putting pride back into Brent’s streets. We’re determined to create a cleaner, safer, greener borough where every resident feels safe, connected, and proud of where they live.”
Confusion over what SCIL money can be used for
The council has received advice that SCIL money can be spent on “the provision, improvement, replacement, operation or maintenance of infrastructure” and can be used to “increase the capacity of existing infrastructure or to repair failing infrastructure if necessary to support development”.
The Brent Liberal Democrats have argued that the party has been calling on the council to allocate available SCIL money for these types of improvements for years but claim they have been told that it can’t be used this way.
Brent Liberal Democrat Leader, Cllr Paul Lorber, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “[We] have been arguing for immediate investment in these areas for years, and on the council since at least 2020. Given the extent of development in our borough, Brent Council has collected huge amounts of CIL that could and should have been used immediately to make required improvements to benefit local people.”
He added: “The state of local roads, pavements, and open spaces has never been worse.[…] Residents have had to cope with unsafe pavements, pothole riddled roads, endless fly-tipping, poorly lit and badly managed parks.
“This inadequate investment will not even begin to deal with the backlog of urgent works required to make roads and pavements safe and combat the rubbish dumping epidemic in Brent. [The council] leadership could have identified £65 million worth of works but have decided to only use a fraction.”
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