Campaign to save historic black-led community centre

Delaney Brown is one of the original members of Harlesden People's Community Council

A community centre credited with stopping race riots in Harlesden in the 1980s may be demolished under new development plans.

Bridge Park in Stonebridge was once the largest black-led community enterprise in Europe, housing business units, workshops, a sports hall and a theatre.

Brent Council said the site had been partially derelict for 15 years and would cost too much to renovate. It wants to knock down the centre, built in a disused bus depot, and replace it with 1,000 homes, retail space, a hotel and new community hub.

Campaigners said this would eradicate black British history, and they want the building added to the National Heritage List for England.

Weeks after the uprising in Brixton more than 40 years ago, with racial tensions strained, an angry group of young people gathered on the Stonebridge Estate in north-west London.

A local man, Leonard Johnson, stood before them. He urged: "Let's build, not destroy."

As he later recounted to the BBC, "I was able to get the crowd to start dropping their arsenal. I was surprised, as well as the police, though."

Mr Johnson was chair of the action group, Harlesden People's Community Council (HPCC). Having left prison at 25 years old he decided that no one would help his community, unless they empowered themselves. From a small garage on the estate, the cooperative ran classes in maths, English, electronics and black history.

Brent Council, impressed by the HPCC's ability to stop the unrest, was supportive of their proposal to buy a disused bus depot so that they could expand community activities. The Stonebridge bus garage site was bought for £1.8m, with an IT centre and creche for young mothers opened a year later.

But there was always an uncomfortable relationship between authorities holding the purse strings - with the HPCC wanting to maintain autonomy - and the actual needs of the community. Disagreements and funding gaps delayed completion of the complex until 1988.

It was officially opened by the then Prince Charles, who said, "Bridge Park is one of the most important developments that I have seen anywhere in this country for a long time".

It was, at this time, the largest black-led community enterprise in Europe, with 32 start-up units for local businesses, a sports hall, theatre, training centre, recording studio, restaurant and bar.

A plaque on Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre marks Leonard Johnson's achievements

Leonard Johnson died in 2023, aged 65. A blue plaque at the Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre honours his achievements.

Brent Council sold the site in 2017, and there followed years of legal battles over ownership. The current proposal is for the entire site to be demolished to make way for affordable homes, retail units, and a significantly larger and more modern Bridge Park Leisure Centre.

But campaigners have accused the council of eradicating black history.

Leader of Brent Council, Muhammed Butt, said: "We do want to rebuild.

"When you rebuild, it doesn't mean that you're losing the history - you can bring back the ambitions that people had at that time into the new space.

"Going forward, we can create those spaces and utilise them and make sure that those uses are part and parcel of the plans we develop - something that will deliver for all our communities."

Brent Council says the Bridge Park site has been partially derelict for 15 years

Cultural legacy lost

Those pioneering black leaders feel they have been pushed aside - and their cultural legacy will be lost.

Delaney Brown, one of the founding members of the Harlesden People's Community Council, said: "We need to get back something, to be recognised for something that we've done. Involvement - real involvement - practical involvement.

"That's what we've worked for: to be self-sufficient, to be significant, a legacy that my child, my son, can say, 'I can do it too. My dad did it!'

"There are community people that have got so many abilities and skills to offer."

The Save Bridge Park campaign wants the site added to the National Heritage List for England, as they say this would acknowledge its part in preventing a race uprising in Stonebridge and mark its importance historically.

A consultation process has begun, with a planning decision expected later this year.