London Borough of Brent

The London Borough of Brent is a London borough in north west London,  and forms part of Outer London. The major areas are Kilburn, Wembley and Harlesden.

It borders the boroughs of Harrow to the north-west, Barnet to the north-east, Camden to the east and Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Kensington and Chelsea to the south, and Westminster to the south-east. Most of the eastern border is formed by the Roman road Watling Street, which is now the modern A5. Brent has a mixture of residential, industrial and commercial land. Brent is home to Wembley Stadium, one of the country's biggest landmarks, as well as Wembley Arena. The local authority is Brent London Borough Council.

The borough has seen illegal dumping on the borough’s streets between 2013/14 and 2014/15 surge by 84 per cent, the most recorded by a local authority in England. According to the findings of a survey by property group Rightmove, Brent is the third most unhappy borough in London, based on a number of factors including décor, space, value, pride, costs, safety, amenities, recreation, community, contentment, neighbourliness and area contentment. Brent has the highest proportion of housing benefit claims by private tenants in the country as a percentage of all households according to the Financial Times.

History
Brent was formed in 1965 from the area of the former Municipal Borough of Wembley and Municipal Borough of Willesden of Middlesex. Its name derives from the River Brent which runs through the borough.

Wards
Brent is divided into 21 Electoral Wards. Some wards share a name with the traditional areas above, others include Barnhill, Dudden Hill, Fryent, Mapesbury and Welsh Harp.

The Brent borough includes three parliamentary constituencies: Brent North, Brent Central, and Hampstead and Kilburn, which includes part of the London Borough of Camden. Before the 2010 United Kingdom general election it was divided into three constituencies contained wholly within the borough - Brent South, Brent East and Brent North.

Politics
Brent London Borough Council is elected every four years, with currently 63 councillors being elected at each election. While the Labour Party has been the largest single party on the council for about half its history and the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have each been the largest party at other times, there have been several periods when no party has had overall control. Labour regained control in 2010 and increased their majority at the 2014 election. As of the 2014 election the council is composed of the following councillors:-

The leader of the Council is Labour Councillor Muhammed Butt.

Demographics
In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 2,022. This rose slowly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 5,646 in the middle of the century. When the railways arrived the rate of population growth increased. The population peaked in the 1960s, when industry began to relocate from London.

Brent is among the most diverse localities in the country, with large Asian and Indian, Black African, Black Caribbean, Irish (largest in the country), and Eastern European communities.

In the 2001 Census, the borough had a population of 263,464 – of whom 127,806 were male, and 135,658 female. Of those stating a choice, 47.71% described themselves as Christian, 17.71% as Hindu, 12.26% as Muslim and 10% as having no religion. Of the population, 39.96% were in full-time employment and 7.86% in part-time employment – compared to a London average of 42.64% and 8.62%, respectively. Residents were predominantly owner-occupiers, with 23.17% owning their house outright, and a further 31.33% owning with a mortgage. 10.59% were in local authority housing, with a further 13.29% renting from a housing association, or other registered social landlord.

The borough of Brent is extremely diverse, ethnically. In the 2011 census, those who claimed British white heritage made up 18% of the borough's population. 18% claimed other white heritage, 5% were of mixed heritage, those of South Asian heritage comprised about 33%, those of African and Caribbean heritage about 19%, and other ethnic groups about 7%. Whites were found in highest proportion in the wards of Mapesbury (the area between Willesden Green and Cricklewood), Brondesbury Park, Queen's Park and Kilburn. Blacks in highest proportion were found in Stonebridge, Harlesden and Kensal Green wards. Asians are centred in the wards of Alperton, Wembley Central and Kenton. Brent has the highest proportion of Irish residents in mainland Britain, with 4% of the population.

As of 2011, 41.5% identified themselves as Christian, 18.6% Muslim, 17.8% Hindu and 10.6% irreligious.

Geography
Major districts of Brent include: Cricklewood, Kilburn, Willesden and Wembley.

Climate
Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb". (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).

Economy
Diageo has its head office in Park Royal and in the London Borough of Brent, on a former Guinness brewery property. The brewery was closed in 2004; it had produced beer since 1936. Diageo planned to move its head office to Brent from Central London when the lease on the Central London office expired in 2010.

Brent is the joint fourth-worst Borough in London for levels of child poverty. Save the Children reported in 2011 that 11,000 children are impoverished.

Compulsory recycling
Recycling has been compulsory in the borough of Brent since 2008. Through a green box collection scheme the borough aims to improve on the 25 per cent recycled waste it already achieves.

London Fire Brigade
The London Borough of Brent has three fire stations within the borough: Park Royal, Wembley and Willesden. Brent has a mixture of residential, industrial and commercial land. Most notably, Wembley National Stadium is within the area - on match days the safety of over 90,000 people is the responsibility of the London Fire Brigade. Wembley covers the largest area in the borough, 19.1 km2. Two pumping appliances, a fire rescue unit and an aerial ladder platform are based there. Willesden, for its relatively small, in comparison to Wembley, station ground (10.5 km2), responded to over a thousand incidents in 2006/2007. Two pumping appliances reside there. Park Royal, with its one pumping appliance and an incident response unit, has one of the smallest station grounds; just 8.1 km2. Within the borough, 4,105 incidents occurred in 2006/2007.

Transport
The numerous London Underground, London Overground and National Rail stations in the borough are:
 * Alperton tube station
 * Brondesbury railway station
 * Brondesbury Park railway station
 * Dollis Hill tube station
 * Harlesden station
 * Kensal Green station
 * Kenton station
 * Kilburn tube station
 * Kilburn Park tube station
 * Kingsbury tube station
 * Neasden tube station
 * North Wembley station
 * Northwick Park tube station
 * Preston Road tube station
 * Queensbury tube station
 * Queen's Park station
 * South Kenton station
 * Stonebridge Park station
 * Sudbury Town tube station
 * Sudbury & Harrow Road railway station
 * Wembley Central station
 * Wembley Park tube station
 * Wembley Stadium railway station
 * Willesden Green tube station
 * Willesden Junction station

Travel to work
In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were (of all residents aged 16–74):
 * underground, metro, light rail, tram, 18.3%;
 * driving a car or van, 11.5%;
 * bus, minibus or coach, 11.5%;
 * on foot, 4.6%;
 * train, 4.5%;
 * work mainly at or from home, 2.6%;
 * bicycle, 1.7%.

Landmarks

 * Wembley Stadium
 * Wembley Arena
 * Neasden Temple
 * Jubilee clock Harlesden
 * Brent Town Hall
 * Shree Swaminarayan Temple, Kingsbury

Parks and open spaces

 * Roe Green Park
 * Queen's Park
 * Roundwood Park
 * Tiverton Green
 * Gladstone Park

Sport and leisure
The Borough has three Non-League football clubs:
 * Tokyngton Manor F.C., which plays at Spratleys Meadow.
 * Wembley F.C., which plays at Vale Farm stadium
 * South Kilburn F.C. which plays at Vale Farm stadium.