London Borough of Brent facts for kids

Quick facts for kids London Borough of Brent
Borough
Coat of arms
Motto(s):  Forward Together
Brent shown within Greater London
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	London
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Created	1 April 1965
Admin HQ	Engineers Way, Wembley
Government
• Type	London borough council
• Body	Brent London Borough Council
Area
• Total	16.70 sq mi (43.24 km2)
Area rank	284th (of 326)
Population  (2020)
• Total	329,771
• Rank	28th (of 326)
• Density	19,752.6/sq mi (7,626.5/km2)
• Ethnicity	18% White British 4% White Irish 0.1% White Gypsy or Irish Traveller 14.3% Other White 1.4% White & Black Caribbean 0.9% White & Black African 1.2% White & Asian 1.6% Other Mixed 18.6% Indian 4.6% Pakistani 0.6% Bangladeshi 1% Chinese 9.2% Other Asian 7.8% Black African 7.6% Black Caribbean 3.4% Other Black 3.7% Arab 2.1% Other
Time zone	UTC (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
Postcodes	HA, NW, W
Area code(s)	020
ONS code	00AE
GSS code	E09000005
Police	Metropolitan Police
Website	http://www.brent.gov.uk

The London Borough of Brent is a London borough in north-west London. It borders the boroughs of Harrow to the north-west, Barnet to the north-east, Camden to the east, the City of Westminster to the south-east, as well as the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham and Ealing to the south. Most of the eastern border is formed by the Roman road Watling Street, which is now the modern A5.

Brent's population is estimated to be 329,771. Major districts are Kilburn, Willesden and Wembley, while other districts include Harlesden, Stonebridge, Kingsbury and Queen's Park. Brent has a mixture of residential, industrial and commercial land. It includes many districts of inner-city character in the east and a more distinct suburban character in the west, part of which formed part of the early 20th century Metroland developments. Today Brent is known for being home to Wembley Stadium, the country's largest stadium by capacity, as well as other landmarks such as the Kiln Theatre, the Swaminarayan Temple and Wembley Arena. Other notable places are the Welsh Harp reservoir and the Park Royal commercial estate. The local authority is Brent London Borough Council.

History

A map of Brent in 1872, by John Marius Wilson

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.

Demographics

In 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough had a total population of 2,022. This rose slowly throughout the nineteenth 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 took five decades to rebound to the more muted peak of the 1950s, when much industry relocated from London, further boosting the speed of the wave of new housing then built.

Brent is the most diverse locality in the UK by country of birth. It in 2019 became the only local authority with over 50% of residents, namely 52%, born abroad. Large Asian and Indian, Black African, Black Caribbean, Irish, and Eastern European communities exist. 45 percent of the population was a minority ethnicity in the 1991 census, the most in England at the time. In 1991 17.2% were Indian, 10.2% were Black Caribbean and 9% were Irish. Brent was the only Outer London borough combining high proportions of Indian and Afro-Caribbean ethnicities.

The 2001 UK Census found that the borough had a population of 263,464 residents, 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. Among residents, 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. Narrowly most residents included an owner-occupier in their household, with 23.17% of households 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 ethnically diverse, having changed greatly since 1951. In the 2011 census, those who identified as White British made up 18% of the borough's population. 18% identified as other White, 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%. White ethnicities were relatively high in the wards of Mapesbury (straddling Willesden Green and Cricklewood), Brondesbury Park, Queen's Park and Kilburn. Black ethnicities in highest proportion were in Stonebridge, Harlesden and Kensal Green wards. Asian ethnicities in highest proportion were in the wards of Alperton, Wembley Central and Kenton. Those who ethnically identify as BAME (Black, Asian and minority Ethnic) was as high as 86% in Wembley Central – one of the highest in London – and most other Brent wards have a majority BAME population. Queen's Park had the lowest BAME proportion, at 37.0%.

Brent has the highest proportion of Irish residents in Britain, with 4% of the population. It also has the largest Brazilian community in the UK; one of the largest Indian communities; a significant Afro-Caribbean community; and more recent Romanian, Polish and Somali communities.

Religion

As of 2011, 41.5% identified themselves as Christian, 18.6% Muslim, 17.8% Hindu and 10.6% with no religion. Brent is notably home of the Neasden Temple, once the largest Hindu Mandir outside India; and JFS, the largest Jewish school in Europe. There is also an Islamic school called Islamia Primary School founded by Cat Stevens.

Ethnicity

This table shows the stated ethnic group of respondents of the 2001 and 2011 censuses in Brent.

Geography

Major districts of Brent include: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).

Amenities and culture

Education

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 (7.4 sq mi). 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 (4.1 sq mi)), 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 (3.1 sq mi). 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

Parks and open spaces

• Roe Green Park
• Queen's Park
• Roundwood Park
• Tiverton Green
• Gladstone Park
• Barham Park
• One Tree Hill Park
• Maybank Open Space
• King Edward VI 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.

Town twinning

Brent is twinned with:

• South Dublin, Leinster, Ireland

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.

Images for kids

• 

  The old Brent Town Hall

• 

  The new Brent Civic Centre

See also

In Spanish: Brent (Londres) para niños