Stonebridge, London: Difference between revisions
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==Crime== |
==Crime== |
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Crime in Stonebridge is extremly high. It is known as the most dangerous part of Europe. You are more likely to be murdered here than anywhere else in Europe. It is estimated that every day, a fatal shooting occours in stonebridge involving the |
Crime in Stonebridge is extremly high. It is known as the most dangerous part of Europe. You are more likely to be murdered here than anywhere else in Europe. It is estimated that every day, a fatal shooting occours in stonebridge involving the infamous gang "USG" otherwise known as Usual Suspect Gang. This gang is also thought to be the most noutorious and dangerous gang in Europe, consisting of over thousands of members. Stonebridge is simply a "No-Go Zone" for police. The "USG" gang recently had problems with another local london gang called the Mozart Bloods. "USG" represent with the colour blue, however the Mozart bloods wear the colour red. Many beleive this is the souce of thier rivalry, which ended with the death of 37 Mozart blood youths. One night, over a hundered "USG" gang members all armed with guns entered the Mozart blood gang terretory and shot anyone they saw wearing a red bandana. The death of these youths, caused the Mozart Bloods gang leader to surrender. After that,"USG" was crowned the owners of london. A [[contract killing]] of two sisters and their mother's partner in Clark Court, Stonebridge brought the estate back into the media spotlight in August 2005.<ref>[http://www.harrowobserver.co.uk/west-london-news/local-harrow-news/2009/02/09/police-hunt-after-murder-of-man-outside-harlesden-birthday-party-116451-22889557/ Harrow Observer]</ref>, as well the murder of a young father in 2009 outside a local party at a Stonebridge Primary School. Generally though, during the first decade of the twenty-first century, crime has progressively reduced. |
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Press comment has generally changed from being negative<ref>[http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=4066 Socialist Worker]</ref>, which demoralised the local residents, to being more positive.<ref>[http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/07/24/out-of-the-gun-s-shadow-115875-21543698 Daily Mirror Report on changes in Stonebridge]</ref>. |
Press comment has generally changed from being negative<ref>[http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=4066 Socialist Worker]</ref>, which demoralised the local residents, to being more positive.<ref>[http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/07/24/out-of-the-gun-s-shadow-115875-21543698 Daily Mirror Report on changes in Stonebridge]</ref>. |
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Revision as of 20:21, 22 May 2012
 | This article possibly contains unsourced predictions, speculative material, or accounts of events that might not occur. Information must be verifiable and based on reliable published sources. |
Stonebridge is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Brent. It is also the name of the largest electoral ward in the borough, which includes Stonebridge itself as well as Park Royal, Brent Park and the St Raphael's Estate. The majority of its population consists of people of Afro-Caribbean heritage.
History
The area was named after a stone bridge built over the River Brent to the north.
The exclusive Craven Park Estate of large houses was built in the 1860s and later, roughly at the same time as the Midland Railway constructed the Dudding Hill Line (now a freight line), which gave its new residents access to central London. However, the passenger service on the line closed for a second and final time in 1902, but only after a sustained protest campaign by local people.
Although other high-quality housing had grown up around the now-closed nearby Harlesden (Midland) railway station, the area failed to consolidate as an up-market suburb, because of the general expansion of London, increasing industry, and the building of low-quality, cheap housing, later in the late Nineteenth Century. Along with the sub-division of many of the large houses, Stonebridge became a low-income area, which continued after high-rise comprehensive redevelopment, mostly built in a single architectural style and called the 'Stonebridge Estate', in the 1960s and 1970s.[1][2]
Some parts of Stonebridge have always been in private ownership, and not been part of the Stonebridge Estate.
Built environment
Some improvements in the street scene happened in the early 1990s, as a result of the 'Harlesden City Challenge' award of government money to the area.
Most improvements, however, came after 2000, when comprehensive redevelopment of the 1960s and 1970s housing started. This is mainly complete by 2010, although some empty high-rise buildings are still being demolished.
A traditional street layout has been introduced, largely of two- and three-storey houses, often with four-story flats around street junctions.
The Stonebridge Estate has been redeveloped by Stonebridge Housing Action Trust, set up in 1994 under the Housing Act 1988, and with the aim
To transform the 1,775 home Stonebridge Estate by providing innovative solutions to the problems of social and economic deprivation faced by local residents.
It responded with various training and leisure initiatives, and modern, low-rise houses with some four-storey blocks of flats, mainly on street corners to give variety to the street scene.
In 2008, the redevelopment was awarded the European Urban and Regional Planning Award, under the category Public Participation in Planning,[3] for the
exemplary approach to public participation.
The Housing Action Trust was dissolved in 2007, and housing is now a mixture of housing association ownership (Hillside Housing Trust, part of the Hyde Group) and reversion to the London Borough of Brent. Tenants were given a choice about which ownership they preferred.
New development on Hillside, part of the A404 Harrow Road through the area, includes private ownership of flats above offices, and a health centre. Redevelopment has gone hand-in-hand with training and sports initiatives for local people.
A tree preservation order has been adopted by Brent Council on Winchelsea Road nearby, to protect the street scene, forcing new buildings to be set back from the road. The "exemplary approach to public participation" award quoted above may well have been justified regarding estate residents, but there were local media claims in 2007 that it was not true regarding neighbours, as evidenced by Brent Council's willingness to protect the Winchelsea Road trees.
Crime
Crime in Stonebridge is extremly high. It is known as the most dangerous part of Europe. You are more likely to be murdered here than anywhere else in Europe. It is estimated that every day, a fatal shooting occours in stonebridge involving the infamous gang "USG" otherwise known as Usual Suspect Gang. This gang is also thought to be the most noutorious and dangerous gang in Europe, consisting of over thousands of members. Stonebridge is simply a "No-Go Zone" for police. The "USG" gang recently had problems with another local london gang called the Mozart Bloods. "USG" represent with the colour blue, however the Mozart bloods wear the colour red. Many beleive this is the souce of thier rivalry, which ended with the death of 37 Mozart blood youths. One night, over a hundered "USG" gang members all armed with guns entered the Mozart blood gang terretory and shot anyone they saw wearing a red bandana. The death of these youths, caused the Mozart Bloods gang leader to surrender. After that,"USG" was crowned the owners of london. A contract killing of two sisters and their mother's partner in Clark Court, Stonebridge brought the estate back into the media spotlight in August 2005.[4], as well the murder of a young father in 2009 outside a local party at a Stonebridge Primary School. Generally though, during the first decade of the twenty-first century, crime has progressively reduced.
Press comment has generally changed from being negative[5], which demoralised the local residents, to being more positive.[6].
In 2010 former Millwall footballer Gavin Grant was found guilty of shooting and murdering Leon Labastide. Stephen Batten QC, prosecuting, said the case was linked to shootings and drug dealing on the Stonebridge Park Estate, which was described as "lawless" during the trial at the Old Bailey. Batten told the jury: "It is more the law of the jungle than of civilised England."
Transport
Tube & Overground
- Harlesden station (0.4 mi or 640 m), Bakerloo line, London Overground
- Stonebridge Park station (0.8 mi or 1,300 m), Bakerloo line, London Overground
Buses
| 18 | Euston | Sudbury Inn | First Centrewest |
| 112 | Ealing Broadway | Brent Cross | Abellio London |
| 206 | Kilburn Park | Wembley Park The Paddocks | Metroline |
| N18 | Trafalgar Square | Harrow Weald Bus Garage | First Centrewest |
The very frequent 18 and its night-route N18 serve the heart of Stonebridge, along the A404; Brentfield and Hillside. 112 serves the west and north, going through the A406 North Circular Road. The 206 serves Brentfield Road and the eastern edge to Craven Park, when you enter Harlesden.
Future
The North and West London Light Railway has been proposed for the area.[7]
Nearest places
Neighbouring areas of Stonebridge | |
|---|---|
References
- ^ "BBC News Race Special, Turning away from crime". BBC News. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
- ^ http://www.hidden-london.com/stonebridge.html
- ^ ECTP Awards 2008 retrieved 2009-09-13
- ^ Harrow Observer
- ^ Socialist Worker
- ^ Daily Mirror Report on changes in Stonebridge
- ^ "Reducing Car Use: Proposals for a Brent Cross Railway" (PDF). London Campaign for Better Transport. 2008. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
See also
- Harlesden
- Harlesden station
- Trainspots photographs The nearby Dudding Hill Line in Craven Park
