Brent Council has approved a £14 million investment to improve public spaces across the borough, focusing on enhancements to footpaths, parks, CCTV, and street lighting. The investment aims to address resident concerns and enhance community safety and well-being.

The investment, drawn from the Strategic Community Infrastructure Levy (SCIL), was approved at a recent Cabinet meeting. The funding breakdown is as follows:

  • Carriageway and footway work, street lighting and tree stump removal: up to £10,683,000
  • Park and playground improvements: up to £730,000
  • CCTV upgrades and extensions: up to £3,120,000

Councillor Krupa Sheth, Cabinet Member for Public Realm & Enforcement, introduced the report, highlighting the funding's role in delivering improvements to footpaths, parks, CCTV, and street lighting. The SCIL Public Realm Projects document provides further details on the planned projects.

Councillor Promise Knight, Cabinet Member for Customer Experience, Resident Support and Culture, noted that public realm issues are frequently raised by residents. Councillor Jake Rubin, Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Community Power, welcomed the investment in CCTV, noting that it will support the Don't Mess With Brent campaign. Councillor Neil Nerva highlighted that the funding comes from developers and is being used strategically across the borough.

The funding will be allocated to:

  • Carriageway and footway work
  • Street lighting
  • Tree stump removal
  • Park and playground improvements
  • CCTV upgrades and extensions

The CCTV upgrades and extensions will include replacement of older analogue CCTV cameras with digital cameras, potential upgrade to Ultra High Definition (UHD) digital cameras and network expansion to support upgraded and new cameras. To address privacy concerns, automatically applied digital masking of CCTV images will be used.

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a charge which can be levied by local authorities on new development in their area. It is a valuable tool for local authorities to use to help them deliver the infrastructure needed to support development in their area.