A North London council has revealed an ambitious £26.9 million investment plan to upgrade the borough’s infrastructure and community amenities.
The funding, described as ‘the biggest upgrade to local public spaces in years’, targets improvements across roads, parks, town centres, youth services, and initiatives addressing climate change.
The investment by Brent Council includes a £14.5 million package earmarked for roads, parks, and security enhancements.
This aims to tackle persistent issues such as pothole-damaged carriageways, uneven footways, outdated street lighting, and the removal of hazardous tree stumps.
Parallel to road improvements, Brent has allocated £3.1 million to securing town centres by upgrading CCTV surveillance systems, and £730,000 toward modernising parks and playgrounds.
Elsewhere, Brent Council is putting £4 million into upgrading youth centres borough-wide. Key projects include refurbishments at Cricklewood Boxing Club, the Jason Roberts Foundation gym, the OK Club’s sports hall, and the Young Brent Foundation’s Anchor Youth Hub.
Improvements plan to deliver refurbished meeting spaces, new sports hall floors, upgraded kitchen facilities, and enhanced toilets and changing rooms.
These investments form part of a wider £8.2 million community programme encompassing approximately 60 projects.
Other initiatives feature efforts such as town centre ‘spring cleaning,’ deploying additional patrol officers, installing secure cycle parking, introducing four new school street schemes, and assisting residents facing cost-of-living pressures through debt advice and support services.
Climate action also constitutes a prominent pillar of the funding package. Brent intends to plant 1,500 new trees across the borough, and a dedicated £3.2 million has been set aside for climate-focused projects alone.
The proposed upgrades will breathe new life into a borough that has previously been branded an ‘eyesore’ by a particularly brutal Reddit thread.
In the subreddit r/London, one user wrote: ‘For me [the worst area], it’s Brent. Overcrowded…no interesting areas. Just grim’.
Another called Brent ‘a dump’.
But Brent has plenty going for it – from proximity to nature to thriving community spaces.
Things to do in Brent
Brent’s most famous attraction is Wembley Stadium – AKA, the home of English football and a venue for some of the world’s biggest musicians.
Nearby, there’s also Wembley Arena, which has famously hosted Queen, Madonna and Adele over the years.
There are green spaces aplenty too, including Roundwood, Gladstone and Fryent Country Park. Welsh Harp Reservoir, comprised of 170 hectares of wildlife, is also a stone’s throw from Wembley Stadium.
And, for a community feel, you can shop around for locally sourced produce at the weekly Queen’s Park Farmers Market, attended by around 40 stalls every Sunday.
Property prices in Brent
Last year, Brent was named the most popular London borough for first-time buyers, with 77% of homes in the area snapped up by first-time buyers in the first half of 2024.
You might think this means Brent is immune to London’s hefty property prices, but sadly not.
According to Rightmove, the average property price in Brent was £627,480 over the last year.
The majority of properties sold were flats, which came in at an average of £471,833, while terraced properties sold for an average of £828,026 and semi-detached properties fetched £790,690.
Councillor Jake Rubin, Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Community Power, has welcomed the £26.9 million investment in the borough, highlighting its comprehensive nature and direct response to urgent issues identified by residents — including tackling living costs, reducing crime, and enhancing green spaces.
However, the announcement has drawn criticism from the opposition. Councillor Paul Lorber, Leader of the Brent Liberal Democrats, questioned the timing and scale of the spending, describing it as a ‘desperate attempt’ by the Labour-led council to shore up support ahead of next year’s local elections.
Lorber contended that these improvements were long overdue and criticised Labour for years of neglect that led to deteriorating infrastructure and insufficient youth services.
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