Letters, contributions and comments sent in from Times’ readers this week.

Poetry to the Hillside trees

Cllr Ketan Sheth, chair of Brent Council’s community and wellbeing scrutiny committee, writes:

Stonebridge’s Hillside Open Space,

You were a beautiful place!

Once full of tall mature trees,

Felling done with such an ease.

No rhyme or reason,

Or rationalisation,

Some vague notion of transformation,

From an urban oasis to a concrete silo.

Tower block? Is that you?

I thought, you, I mean, really? Really?

Sure, there’s dire shortage of quality affordable homes,

But surely not at the expense of deciduous homes?

Schoolchildren from Stonebridge and Our Lady of Lourdes will much miss it,

I don’t do detail, feeling sad, just fix it,

While I stare at the remains: sawdust of our fallen trees in the cherished open space,

From traffic-packed Harrow Road,

We must determine these actions with pace.

Actioning change

Trevor Ellis, Chalkhill Road, Wembley, writes:

I‘m writing to express my concern about a long-standing misuse of shopping trolleys that are habitually taken from the local Asda superstore in Wembley Park and the effect it is having on the environment in and around Chalkhill Estate.

The pavements within the aforementioned estate are regularly strewn with shopping trolleys that are evidently used by customers to transfer their purchases that were presumably numerous and difficult to carry by hand.

On one recent occasion, my pathway was blocked due to a shopping trolley that was abandoned in the middle of the pavement.

I am aware that a particular company takes the responsibility for collecting the trolleys and returning them to the rightful owner, but surely Asda Wembley ought to see this as an opportunity to open a channel of communication and appeal to shoppers to be responsible, considerate and gracious users of supermarket trolleys.

It is clear to all responsible residents of Chalkhill Estate to see that inconsiderate local shoppers continue to breach the rules, despite a sign displayed that clearly disallows it.

Further to that, it begs an obvious question in my mind: how long will this be tolerated by Asda Wembley?

Swift and firm action is necessary if this problem is to be resolved.

Chalkhill Estate has a lot of problems with littering, irresponsible use of alcohol, gambling and worrying evidence of dependence on junk food.

The longer those habits are tolerated, along with inconsiderate use of shopping trolleys, will only serve to make matters worse.

Brent doesn’t stand a chance of getting better and stronger without a positive and determined reaction to the many negatives that are taking root in the borough.

2021 can be a year of social change, but does the will to make it happen exist, or will you choose to be complacent for another year?