Harlesden Canalside

During 2021, we asked you to help us design a community hub for the canal towpath in Harlesden, including boater facilities, a canal garden, an outdoor activity space and seating, improved canoe club facilities and better access to the towpath. Hundreds of local people took part by sending us emails and talking to us over the phone, through Zoom meetings and at some socially distanced engagements in the area.

We’ve also been working with the project’s Sounding Board Group, established to advise OPDC and its partners through the different design stages and help bring the ideas to life. The Group includes members from the boating community, local businesses, the Sharks canoe club and future users of the dedicated community moorings.

We are so grateful for the conversations and ideas received, and have worked hard over the past few months, in partnership with Brent Council and the Canal and River Trust, to create a plan and associated designs using your direction as a guide to ensure that the new space responds to your feedback and is financially sustainable.

Before submitting a planning application to Brent Council, we are holding a final round of public consultation between 16^th February and 2^nd March, to give you the opportunity to view and provide feedback on the final proposal and concept designs.

As part of the consultation, we would like to invite you to join one or more of the following public consultation events:

Please register for the consultation events here consult.opdc.london.gov.uk/harlesdencanalside

You can also have your say using our bespoke , accessible any time of the day or night, where you can view plans and visuals, watch videos and leave feedback. Hardcopy plans and feedback forms will also be available at Harlesden Library, 49A Craven Park Rd, London NW10 8SE. We offer translations, Braille or audio format for all of our materials upon request.

Please also see enclosed our promotional flyer with all of the details, we’re keen for as many local people to get involved as possible so please feel free to share it across your networks, friends and family.

We’d love to see you and hear from you during the consultation period between 16^th February – 2^nd March, so please do come and join us to share your final views and help turn Harlesden Canalside into a vibrant public space for the area and its residents, workers and boating community.

If you have any questions about the consultation or our plans don’t hesitate to get in touch on 0207 983 5732 and if you do not wish to receive any further information about the Harlesden Canalside project, please tell us so we can remove you from our records.

What happened in March 2021?

The team hosted three online engagement events in March including the Harlesden Virtual Quiz, ‘Your Voice Matters’ Webinar and the Business Workshop.

Below are the event listings and a short summary of what happened at each event. You can also watch a recording of the ‘Your Voice Matters Webinar’ via the link below.

If you weren’t able to attend but are interested in finding out more about the project then you can also register for future updates via emailing the OPDC - info@opdc.london.gov.uk

Harlesden Virtual Quiz - 4th March 2021

This was a relaxed and fun, social engagement event sharing general knowledge of the canal and surrounding areas. It was an opportunity to, meet others interested in the canalside project and those on the team behind the design, whilst learning more about the canal and its history. How many of the questions would you have gotten right? Have a look at the questions and play with friends, family and neighbours at home.

Your Voice Matters Webinar - 15th March 2021

This very successful, information sharing event, was well attended and focused on the ideas and feedback collected through engagement so far. We grouped the initial engagement into four main themes and provided speakers for each; as a bonus, we were supported by: David Lunts, CEO of OPDC and Dawn Butler, Brent Central MP.

Environment – Jan Ackenhausen Principal Urban Designer OPDC

Youth and Legacy – Danny Coyle Head teacher Newman Catholic College

Mending, Making and Meeting - hub purpose – Nisha Kurian Associate Architect at We Made That

Supporting our Under-represented Community – Ryan Fuke Brent Outreach and Prevention Manager St Mungo’s

Attendees broke out into groups to discuss how their ideas can be used to support the themes.

Each group’ discussion points were fed back to the full room. And an open question time for those who wished to ask. All information received will feed into the overall design and plan for the project. The workshops were recorded and can be viewed via the links below.

You can still feed into the design and plan for Harlesden Canalside by emailing OPDC - info@opdc.london.gov.uk

Business Workshop - 18th March 2021

Led by the team at 3Space, this was a presentation and project information session for landowners, adjacent businesses and local interest groups focusing on business planning. Once the current findings were presented, attendees were encouraged to ask questions around support, investment and individual business proposals. Attendees then discussed the idea of creating sustainable business proposals that worked in harmony with ‘community’ uses. An open Expression of Interest was launched and you can contact the team at OPDC to express your interest in these activities.

Many suggestions made were around the social use of the canal and how people can interact with the space, so we are collaborating with the Canal & River Trust to provide children's activity packs for residents and families, to independently learn about the canal.

We ask that you let us know how useful they are, whether you would enjoy more tailored independent learning packs, and what that would look like in the future.

Download your pack here.

We’re delighted to welcome Anita Whittaker to the Harlesden Canalside project team as our Local Community Coordinator. Anita will work with the team to assist, plan, develop and run an exciting programme of events and activities for the project. As a 3rd generation Harlesden resident and an active member of the local community, Anita will play a key part in the engagement and prototyping phase, where the team will work will local people and groups to discuss, experiment and determine what uses would be most suitable and sustainable for Harlesden Canalside.

Watch the video to find out more about the work Anita is doing and her role in the project.

3Space and We Made That are hiring a Local Community Coordinator to join our team to assist, plan, develop and run a programme of events and activities for the Harlesden Canalside project.

Are you early in your career and keen to build your skills in coordinating public engagement and events? Do you have direct links to networks of local young and under represented people in the area?

Applications are now closed.

The Harlesden Canalside project was recently featured in the Brent & Kilburn Times and the article can be found here.