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Presenting – Brent

19th June 2017 Advice

The London Borough of Brent is one of the thirty one boroughs to form the British capital (the 31st is in fact City of Westminster which is not classified as borough, neither is adjacent City of London). Located in the northeast of the city, the Borough of Brent is part of Outer London. Some of the traditionally well-known areas or suburbs within the borough are Wembley, Kilburn, Willesden, Harlesden, Kingsbury etc. Brent is one of the more colourful districts of the capital, with a patchwork of some wealthier and some not so wealthy areas. Unfortunately, Brent has been voted the third unhappiest place to live in Britain, based on a number of factors chosen as important by local residents themselves. The borough is known to suffer from certain socio-demographic problems which are now common for many districts of the capital. Hopefully there are happier times for Brent in future.

Borough of Brent – quick overview

  • Geographically, Brent is a borough of northwest London. The entity shares borders with a number of other districts – Borough of Harrow to the northwest, Barnet to the northeast, with Camden to the east, also a tiny border with Westminster (southeast), and closing the circle to the south are RBKC, Hammersmith & Fulham, and Ealing Borough.
  • Administratively, Brent (like many of the city’s current boroughs) was formed in the mid nineteen sixties as a result of the geographical and administrative changes which took place in London at the time. Brent was formed by a merger of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Willesden and Wembley. The borough was named after the River Brent which flows through it. The governing body of the district is Brent London Borough Council.
  • The Borough of Brent displays the mixture of residential, commercial and industrial estate commonly known in many other districts of the capital. The biggest local landmarks, which are also considered national are The New Wembley Stadium (the original one was also there) and The Wembley Arena. To some, Neasden Temple is also an important religious landmark. Brent is heavily multiethnic with limited white Christian residential populations in some areas of the borough.

Local economy

Dollis Hill, Nevilles CourtBrent’s local economy doesn’t feature any major industrial, commercial or other ventures as most of the local commercial scene is focused on providing employment and services to the borough’s local residents. Having said that, Brent is not overly deprived or lacking decent employment but the borough is struggling heavily with child poverty and youth unemployment. Small and medium enterprises make up for most of the employment in the borough, which is not a surprise given the nature and orientation of the local economy. Property removals are represented well in the local commercial scene. Moving companies in Church End as well as movers in Dollis Hill are known to provide excellent service at very good prices. Professional movers in Harlesden have also made themselves noticed by clientele, for all the right reasons of course.

Facilities and public amenities

If nothing else, Brent is at least well protected by no less than three London Fire Brigade divisions, located in Willesden, Wembley and Park Royal. This should come as no surprise though as Fire Brigade are actually co-responsible for the safety of spectators at Wembley Stadium, which easily reach hundred thousand people when important games are on.Welsh Harp Reservoir The London Borough of Brent is serviced by an unbelievably large number of railway stations of all the Underground, Overground and National Rail, there are simply too many stations to list by name, but the total number is 25! Borough residents who travel to work on a daily basis and use some sort of railway transportation account for nearly 19% of all local population, which is the highest percentage actually. The smallest number of people (1.7% if all residents) use pushbikes to travel to and from work. Despite its shortcomings, the London Borough of Brent offers people access to over one hundred parks and green open spaces, including sporting and recreation grounds for public use. The borough’s stock of green resources also features a large water reservoir bearing the lovely name Welsh Harp, and Fryent Country Park in Kingsbury – 103 hectares of protected nature reserve.