Category: News

Harrow Council’s Revised Events Policy

“Events in Harrow Policy” to Charge for the Use of Parks, Open Spaces and Adopted Harrow Council Highways for Events:

Harrow Council published a draft “Events Policy” in October 2015, in which charges were to be introduced for anyone wishing to use council owned parks, open spaces or adopted highways for public or private events. In the draft document a small discount of 20% only in the sizable fees and charges payable was to be granted to charities and community organisations, which, with the requirement also for large deposits, would have made arranging many traditional community events financially unviable. The result of these proposed charges would not as intended have raised revenue for the Council. They would simply have ended many much enjoyed community events.

Many community groups and others responded to the consultation on this proposed new policy, with 95% of the responses coming from the Pinner area where many and varied community events are held every year. After the consultation Harrow Council has rewritten their “Events Policy” and this revised policy was adopted at the Harrow Council Cabinet meeting on the 18th of February 2016.

The Pinner Association welcomes the revisions to the Harrow Council Events Policy to increase the discount in the new hire and other fees to 80% for charities and community groups holding events in parks, open spaces or adopted streets, and the removal of a requirement for large deposits from such organisations. We are particularly pleased that notable annual occasions such as the Remembrance Sunday Services are to be exempt from charges. The change in the definition of “small event” to allow this category to cover events with up to 500 persons attending will assist many community groups in continuing to run their traditional events, and may encourage the organisation of new types of community events in the borough.

However, we are still concerned that the detailed and legalistically worded application form required for all but “small” events may be a disincentive to some community groups to organise larger scale events. There are also many very small activities organised every year by the local places of worship and other community groups and these may well cease if these are classed as “events” and therefore disproportionately onerous paperwork is required.   Only time will tell if this is the case.

 

 

Security Message

Please see the statement below from Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley concerning today’s Brussels incident:

 “Our thoughts are with the people of Brussels following this morning’s horrific attacks.
“As a precaution forces across the UK have increased policing presence at key locations, including transport hubs, to protect the public and provide reassurance. This is not in relation to any specific information or intelligence.
“In London specifically, the Metropolitan Police Service has mobilised additional officers, who will carry out highly visible patrols at key locations around the Capital including the transport network. The number of officers deployed will be regularly assessed. These additional officers are deployed as part of reassurance measures.
“The police presence across London and the rest of the UK is constantly under review.
“We are in close liaison with the Belgium authorities and will continue to monitor the situation.
“The threat to the UK from international terrorism remains at severe as it has been since August 2014, meaning an attack is highly likely.
“We urge the public and businesses to be alert but not alarmed and report anything suspicious to the confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321. In an emergency always call 999.”

Major Works on Met Line

These are details of the forthcoming engineering works on the Metropolitan line to replace old and worn out track and drainage between Baker Street and Finchley Road.
From Monday 16 May for approximately two years the Metropolitan line will be closing earlier on Monday to Wednesday evenings between Wembley Park and Aldgate, and on Tuesday to Thursday mornings first trains on this section of the line will start up slightly later.
This extension to our normal overnight engineering hours is to facilitate a huge programme of track and drainage renewal in the tunnels between Finchley Road and Baker Street to address long standing water ingress issues that cause disruption to the service, especially after periods of heavy rain. We have chosen to extend its normal evening engineering hours so that the work can be completed in around two years. The alternative would have involved either a full closure of this section of the line for almost six months or a very large number of weekend closures over seven years.
We have carefully planned these works to keep disruption to customers to a minimum, taking into account that on Monday to Wednesday evenings the Metropolitan line is up to 30 per cent quieter after 22:00 than it is later in the week. We will also suspend the extension to engineering hours on any evenings when events are due to take place at Wembley Stadium.

Details of changes to last train times and alternative travel advice 

From 16 May, the last southbound Metropolitan line on Monday to Wednesday evenings will depart from Wembley Park at 21:45.

The last direct northbound Metropolitan line trains will depart from Baker Street on Monday to Wednesday evenings at the following times:

  • From Baker Street to Watford:                         22.13
  • From Baker Street to Amersham:                    22:35
  • From Baker Street to Uxbridge:                       22:40
  • From Baker Street to Chesham:                      22:50

After these times, for journeys between Baker Street, Finchley Road and Wembley Park customers can use the Jubilee line.  For journeys between Baker Street and Aldgate, customers will still be able to use the Circle or Hammersmith & City lines.

 

Metropolitan line trains will continue to serve all stations north of Wembley Park during this work. A revised Metropolitan line service will operate north of Wembley Park:
Wembley Park to Amersham – 2 trains per hour (tph)
Wembley Park to Chesham – 2tph
Wembley Park to Uxbridge – 6tph
Harrow-on-the-Hill to Watford – 4tph
Chiltern Railways services also run between Amersham, Chalfont & Latimer, Chorleywood, Rickmansworth, Harrow-on-the-Hill and Marylebone.

Changes to early morning services on Tuesday to Thursday mornings

On Tuesday to Thursday mornings the first three Metropolitan line trains between Wembley Park and Baker Street in both the north and southbound directions will not run. The very small number of customers who would normally use these early services will need to re-time their journeys slightly and/or use the first Jubilee line trains instead.
During the rest of the week works will be carried out in our normal engineering hours, with first and last trains running as normal.
There will also be some weekend closures of the Metropolitan line south of Wembley Park, which provide engineers with 52 hours of access to the railway which allows us to get more work completed at a much quicker rate. Full details of our weekend track closures can be found here.

 

Harrow proposal to charge for use of Parks etc

If you are not already aware, Harrow Council is proposing raising a charge for any events held in its parks or on the Highway. So far as Pinner is concerned this could affect the future of events such as the Village Show, the Pantomime Evening, the Summer Band Concerts and even the Annual Remembrance Day service held at the War Memorial in Pinner High Street.
As you may have read in My Pinner News (MPN), in theory there is now a ‘consultation’ process, which was launched in October but was not communicated to the Pinner Association.  We found out about only by chance earlier this month. Since the details were published in MPN the web site reference to the consultation document has now changed to
The Pinner Association has responded to the proposals as follows: 

Response to the Proposed “Events in Harrow” Policy – December 2015

The Pinner Association strongly objects to the Council’s proposal to impose charges for the use of parks, open spaces and streets in Harrow for events organised by charities, voluntary, community and non-profit making organisations.
In section 16 “Partnership working” of the proposed policy it is stated that:

“This policy relies on strong partnership working. The council will work with the following key partners in delivering the policy.”

It is therefore very disappointing that we only got to hear of this proposed new policy via a third party, after it had been prepared and when it was already out for consultation. No attempt at liaison was made with The Pinner Association, which being a residents’ association is one of the “key partners” listed in section 16 of the proposed policy. The Pinner Association has been organising the summer band concerts in Pinner Memorial Park for more than 12 years, and we therefore have considerable experience of running a community event in a public park. Other local voluntary organisations, such as Pinner Rotary, have likewise been organising community events for many years. Neither we, nor any other local voluntary organisation that we have contacted, were involved with the preparation of the proposed policy.   Is this an example of the level of “liaison” that we could expect should this policy be enacted?
In section 1, “Introduction” of the proposed policy the Council’s stated aims are as follows.

“The council’s aim is to balance the need to hold events with its obligations to residents, businesses and visitors, ensuring that these activities continue to be regarded by all as safe, lawful, successful and fair. In addition, the council wants to enhance the use of parks and open spaces by supporting community, cultural, charitable and commercial events which in turn provide cultural, social and economic benefits to the borough.”

We consider that the proposed policy will have exactly the opposite effect to this as regards all charity, not-for-profit and community events; many if not all such events would cease to be held, due to the overly onerous charges required to use the public open spaces or adopted highways, to the overly onerous requirements of the required deposits and the excessive time before such an event that a completed application form is required to be submitted to the Council.

Pinner has a strong community spirit and this is to a very large extent the result of the many events held by different local charitable and non-profit making organisations. These include the four band concerts organised and paid for by the Pinner Association, the annual Mayor’s wreath-laying ceremony in the Peace Garden which is attended by local people and 90 children from West Lodge Primary School and is organised by the Pinner Association, and the Pinner Village Show organised by Pinner Rotary, all in Pinner Memorial Park.   In the Pinner streets, we have the Sunday Remembrance Service organised by the United Services Club and the Pinner Association, the St. George’s celebrations organised by Pinner Rotary and local businesses, Pinner Pantomime Evening organised by local businesses together with the Pinner Association and Pinner & Northwood Business Club, and “Carols by Torchlight” and the Good Friday Walk of Witness organised by the Pinner Association of Churches.   In addition, local people organise parties to raise money for local charities in the streets and open spaces.

The additional costs it is proposed to impose on charities and voluntary organisations are excessive and would, in our opinion, mean that most of the events listed above would cease to be organised. For example, The Pinner Association has calculated that, even with the discount for charities, the cost of organising the four free to attend, open air summer band concerts in Pinner Memorial Park as a result of the proposed charges will increase by at least £2,796, i.e. over and above the cost of the bands, etc.:

The band concerts would be classed as “medium” scale events, therefore the charges would be (from document Appendix A3):

Application fee: £660 – reduced by 40% (The Pinner Association is a registered charity) = £396

Hire charge: £1,000 per day for four days (four Sundays) = £4,000 – reduced by 40% = £2,400

Discounted Total: £2,796.

Additionally a deposit of £1,000 per day (with no discount for charities) would be required and would only be returnable if, in the opinion of Harrow Council, no damage had occurred to the venue, no noise or other disturbance had occurred, there was no litter to clear up, etc..   Therefore in addition to the £2,796 booking and hire charges The Pinner Association would need £4,000 available in additional funds in order to hold the band concerts and in the worst case situation the four concerts may cost us £6,796 before we have paid the costs of hiring the bands, etc..

This is a large sum of money and the Pinner Association trustees may consider that it would no longer be a good use of the charity’s funds to continue holding the band concerts, which are free of charge to attend and which we sponsor entirely from our own resources. As the organisers, we know how disappointed those attending would be if the concerts no longer took place. For many of the elderly who attend, the free concerts are a very welcome outing on a summer Sunday afternoon; somewhere local that they can go and be with other people and enjoy the music. And it is not only the elderly, families from all backgrounds come out, many with their picnics, and join in what is a very happy community event.

The terms and conditions of the required minimum time for booking would also create a real problem for the organisers of many community events. It is understood that for parks that do not have a licence for the activities to be undertaken at an event it is necessary to have a 10 week (small event – TEN licence required) or 26 week (medium / large / special events – time limited premises licence required) due to the constraints of the Licensing Act 2003, but these limits need not apply to the parks that are already licenced (listed in section 9 of the proposed policy). In our experience it would be very difficult to have all the arrangements in place to be sufficiently confident to book a venue for a community event 26 weeks in advance when many of the entertainers or other groups involved also work on a voluntary basis and cannot be sure of their availability such a long time ahead.

The required booking fees would be only 50% returnable after an event is booked, or non-returnable if an event has to be cancelled within a month of the booked date. With events planned for the open air it is sometimes inevitable that they must be cancelled due to weather conditions, to comply with health and safety or to preserve the integrity of the site. This could make the decision to spend at least half the cost of the booking fee for an event six months in the future a difficult choice for charity trustees who are responsible for the prudent conduct of the charity’s finances.
The extremely legalistic application document that community groups would be required to complete for medium sized events (events with more than 201 persons attending, a category which many local community events would fall into) will also deter such events being organised.   The requirement for a named applicant to sign this form which informs them that:
“This is a legal document. By completing the ‘application form’ you agree to keep to these terms and conditions. Failure to comply may result in your deposit being held or other action being taken. Action could be taken against you if you break these conditions and you will lose any deposit paid and/or be required to pay a fine.”

will deter many charity and not-for-profit community organisation volunteers from making an application to hold a community event. While we can understand the need to have legally binding agreements with the organisers of large commercial events, using the same type of form for all events with more than 201 persons expected to attend will result in charity trustees and volunteers from community organisations being unwilling to put themselves at risk of legal action and they will therefore refuse to organise any events. The excessive length of time that will be required to complete the detailed forms by forty days before the date of an event, and the need to get two references even for community groups that have been organising successful events for many years, will be another deterrent to the volunteers who previously gave up their time to organise community events.

We do not understand how forcing these events to cease by the imposition of the proposed charges and other onerous conditions will, to quote the Council’s proposed “Events in Harrow” policy (section 1 “Introduction”):
“enhance the use of parks and open spaces by supporting community, cultural, charitable and commercial events which in turn provide cultural, social and economic benefits to the borough.”

We sympathise with the Council’s need to raise revenue, however charging charities and non-profit making groups for holding community events in our parks and streets is likely to be counterproductive. These groups may well not be able to afford the charges, and so will no longer hold the events. Everyone loses. The Council gains no revenue and the community is no longer able to enjoy the events.

In summary, the proposed charges and other new requirements will destroy, not support, community events in parks, open spaces and adopted highways, and they will certainly not enhance the use of parks and open spaces. They will not achieve the stated aim of “Enhancing the borough’s reputation.”, rather they will further diminish the standing of Harrow Council in the opinion of many in the community.

The Pinner Association – Registered Charity 262349                                      December 2015

Parking Report

Summary of Responses re Pinner Revised CPZ and Parking Restrictions 2015: 

We received 14 responses to our appeal for people to let us know their experience of the revised parking schemes in and around Pinner.   Some responses covered multiple issues, and these were summarised and submitted to Harrow Council Traffic Officers in mid-October.

We have since been informed that the following locations / issues have been included in the Harrow Council current statutory local consultation on the Traffic Order for the six-month review of the revised CPZ:

(a) High Street Pinner – Loading bay outside Nos. 33/35 High Street, Pinner.

(b) Bridge Street, Pinner – existing disabled bays – Max Stay 3 hours.

(c) Leighton Avenue – additional Zone A permit bays.

(d) Paines Lane – 11am to 12 noon Monday to Friday waiting restrictions between Nos. 73 and 83.

(e) Love Lane – proposed school stopping prohibitions.

(f) Cannon Lane – Pay & Display in service road fronting Nos. 42 to 60 Cannon Lane.parktable1

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