Rethink road closure plan

S A Goodchild, Craven Park Road, Harlesden, writes:

It has come to my notice that Brent Council are proposing to close half a dozen roads all within the Roundwood Park Estate area, an area of about a square mile. They are proposing to close Crownhall Road at the junction of of Harlesden Gardens.

It is bad enough at present during the school road closure times, but not content with this, the council wants to make these closures 24/7 (all day and all night long). The Convent has two or three car parks within their grounds for clergy, teachers and staff.

The Keble School authorities allows some cars to be in their grounds also, and likewise Maple Walk school has some teachers/staff arriving by car. All these teachers and staff, together with Crownhall Road resident motorists, will be compelled to leave via St John’s Avenue or Burn’s Road, and if they want to want to go Wembley or Neasden, their simplest route is to go down through Fawcett Road (and Oldfield Road for Neasden and Church Road market) or Fortunegate Road for Wembley and enter the main road via St Thomas’ Road and the Odeon Court lay-by.

Now, the council, not content with this, are putting up closure notices in Fawcett Road, boxing motorists in from the southern part of the Roundwood Road estate from the northern part, making motorists enter the main road by Charlton Road or at the St Mary’s Road traffic lights. However, these traffic lights only have a green arrow, thus forcing motorists to turn left and proceed back into Manor Park Road making them go back and beyond Crownhill Road where they first started from, polluting further the Keble School playing field, which is one of the most polluted school playgrounds in the London area, before adding to the long Wembley queue of traffic at Tavistock Road, making the Craven Park traffic situation even worse than it is already.

The situation at Craven Park is ridiculous. Every Monday to Friday the main road starts jamming up at Craven Park from 3.30pm and by 4.30pm it is quite common to have one complete traffic jam all down Stonebridge Hillside, sometimes right to the North Circular Road.

These secondary routes from St John’s Avenue and Oldfield Road and also Longstone Avenue and Roundwood Road routes to Church Road and Neasden are relief roads at present and are a life-line to the area.

Before you close any of the roads in the Roundwood Park area, sort the traffic out first at Craven Park and not make it worse than it already is.

Business support

Dulcie Joseph, chair, Harlesden Businesses Association, writes:

On behalf of members of Harlesden Businesses Association I would like to thank the leader of Brent Council, councillors and officers of Brent Council for all the support given to local businesses since life for all was put under immense pressures due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sadly, many businesses in Harlesden which re- open when restrictions are lifted will face financial challenges. Many may not re-open. Nonetheless, businesses in Brent are being offered support from the council that other boroughs do not provide. As a business community we will work in partnership with the council and the local community to ensure that local businesses survive.

Brent Council and the wider community , over the years, have survived many challenges and we can do it again if only we all do whatever we are able to in order to support the council, the police, local NHS and the wider community.

Since the pandemic, local voluntary groups have played an excellent part in attempting to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our community and they deserve our gratitude. We are indeed a unique community.

Also, to VEOLIA, thank you for keeping our borough clean before, during and after ‘lock down’.