Tuesday 4 June 2013

Good riddance to Michaela's monster advertisement tomorrow

The Michaela Free School proposers are to take down the illegal giant advertisement they put up on Arena House, Wembley Park, tomorrow according to the Kilburn Times LINK

The issue of whether planning permission had been granted  for the huge hoarding was first raised over the weekend on a Tweet to Brent Council by Wembley Matters, following information from a resident that planning permission had been refused for a similar sized banner back in 2008. Brent Council quickly took the matter up on Monday morning

Although Michaela tried to wriggle out of it, claiming that the advertisement was only going to be there for a few days and they had intended to take it down tomorrow, they seem to have been caught with their trousers down. They even had the audacity to offer the advertising space to anyone else who wanted to use it as they 'want to be part of the Brent Community'!

Perhaps the Anti-Academies Alliance or Brent Fightback should ask to use the space.

5 comments:

Gastronomix said...

Well done planning dept for standing up to them. It doesn't bode well for education that an organisation with a planning lawyer on its board didn't forsee the problem. Or perhaps they planned to just hope no one else did..

Anonymous said...

Just checked the Brent Council website they have planning application received on 24/5/2013 status not validated

https://forms.brent.gov.uk/servlet/ep.ext?extId=101150&reference=111832&st=PL

Anonymous said...

So they submit a planning application on the Friday before the Bank Holiday week-end (which apparently was not in a valid form anyway), but then unveil their banner advertisement the following week anyway, knowing that the earliest their application could be considered by Planning Committee would be July 2013. Not the actions of a responsible, law-abiding body!

Now their website claims: 'This enormous banner, which was erected for a short time to gauge response, has been a huge success.'

Was it really 'erected for a short time to gauge response'? Who do they think they are kidding? How much did this 'enormous banner' cost? How much did the lighting installed along the top of Arena House to illuminate it cost? How much taxpayers money have they wasted on this stunt, money which could have been much better spent on the real funding needs of real local schools in Wembley?

Anonymous said...

You#re obsessed with stop this free school. There is an urgent need for school places in the borough at primary level - and soon to be secondary level. The old Town Hall will be used by the Lycee for mainly out of borough children.

The Green Party true to your name are utterly clueless. Very glad you are not elected to the Borough Council.

Martin Francis said...

Thanks for your comment.

I am opposed to the Michael Free school for a number of reasons:
1. Free schools are outside local democratic control and are expensive, draining money away from local authority schools.
2. A secondary school here will increase the imbalance between provision in the north and south of the borough.
3. With Preston Manor, the Lycee at the Town Hall and Ark all close by there will be further traffic congestion.
4. Katharine Birbalsingh and her governors have no track record in providing high quality education and Birbalsingh herself acted unprofessionally in criticising her then pupils and showing their photographs in her speech at the Tory Party conference.
5. The advertisement itself made spurious claims for the proposed school.
6. Very few local people have shown any interest in the proposed school.
7. The building itself is unfit for secondary school position sitting as it does right next to a noisy railway line and with no play space for the children.