.

.
Click above for what became the consented plan, plus Transport page.

2018-02-27

Evening Standard: Have we reached peak-Hammerson?


Link to web site

"The boss of retail giant Hammerson on Monday insisted its shareholders were still behind its £6.6 billion takeover of rival intu despite a share slump likely to send the firm spinning out of the FTSE 100 this week.

"... Jefferies' Mike Prew said the firm's shares had underperformed rivals this year and added:
"It just looks like a business that has peaked."
"Colm Lauder of Goodbody said the big 39% discount to net asset value at which Hammerson is trading 'expresses the discomfort with which the capital markets hold for retail property in the UK'."

2018-02-26

Capita tries to recruit the donkey to lead the lions


Title: Programme Director - Brent Cross TL

Location: London

About the role:

Re (Regional Enterprise) Ltd is the joint venture between the London Borough of Barnet and Capita. Our innovative commercial model was set up in 2013 and brings together the best of public and private sector delivery.

Our services include; Planning and development management, building control, land charges, environmental health, trading standards and licensing, cemetery and crematorium, highways, regeneration and strategic planning.

Through Re, our aim is to create places where people want to invest, live, work and play. We have grown our business to provide a range of property, development and regulatory services to other local authorities and commercial organisations.

The candidate:

Re are looking for a Programme Director to join our team based in London, working on one of the most exciting regeneration schemes in Europe. The Brent Cross Cricklewood Regeneration will deliver a new quarter for London and provide a range of new life to the Barnet region, including the key new Thameslink train station and enhanced bus station to connect this development to the rest of London.

Working with the Re Brent Cross Business Director and in close collaboration with the Brent Cross Senior Leadership Team [ho, ho!], the BX TL Programme Director is responsible for developing the strategic management delivery plan, associated commercial plans, business cases and programme governance for the successful delivery of the Thameslink Station in association with the Brent Cross Regeneration scheme.

This senior leadership role will entail managing a large multi-disciplined team of professionals whilst setting and monitoring key performance objectives and maintaining excellent communications and strong engagement with the entire team, including all third parties and other key stakeholders.

Your experience will include:
  • Excellent knowledge and understanding of Project and engineering Management Processes
  • Understand and fully familiar with NR 2009 standard for engineering management of projects with demonstrable experience of managing major projects in the last 10 years with NR and/or TfL
  • Have managed multi-disciplinary Rail projects within UK or internationally
  • Plan and control work, chair and minute meetings and manage the flow of information on a day to day basis
  • Develop a project programme and monitor it (including the various techniques including Earned Value Management)
  • Positively influence the management of Health and Safety and principals of sustainability
  • Manage a design team on a day to day basis
  • Manage a construction contract and demonstrate good working knowledge of the different forms of contract and how these are administered
  • Understand the cost plan and cost report
  • Understand the procurement process and the influence of client requirements
  • Understand the importance of scope management and ability to manage a change control process on a day to day basis
  • Understand and apply the principles of risk and value management and use risk and value based thinking to make project level decisions
  • Experience of large-scale central government change programmes within a fast-paced, high profile environment
  • Experience working in or with the Railway Industry
  • Experience of working in local government, or knowledge of CPO / Town Planning processes
  • Degree qualification (or equivalent) desirable, engineering or other relevant subject strongly preferred
  • Chartered Engineer status preferred with ICE or IStructE
  • Project Management Qualification (either academic, professional or both) desirable; * Experience in project planning using Primavera, MS Project or similar essential.
  • [That's enough experience. Ed.]

The Capita Senior Talent team [ha!] will be supporting the process. To find out further information and apply contact Alison Page,

Capita Resourcing welcome applications from all suitably qualified people regardless of gender, race, disability, age or sexual orientation.

If you are successful with your application, you will need complete Capita's vetting and screening checks. This will include, but not be limited to, Reference Checks, a Criminality Check, Financial Probity Check, Sanctions Check and Media Check.

[Reposted from Sep 2017] Capita tries, but the fish ain't biting? Work on the miserable Brent Cross scheme!


From 1 days ago [sic]

www.glassdoor.com

Senior Planner Brent Cross


About the role

Regional Enterprise is looking for a Senior Planner to join our Brent Cross planning team based in Barnet, London. This role will see you working with the Brent Cross Planning and Transport Manager and with other Principal Planners within the team, and you will support and process a range of planning applications associated with the comprehensive regeneration of Brent Cross Cricklewood area. You will be an enthusiastic, flexible, forward thinking planner with practical experience of development management and/or planning consultancy. This is an excellent opportunity to move into a public sector focused planning role, working with a range of stakeholders and on one of the most exciting regeneration developments in the city of London!

About Capita Re

Re, Regional Enterprise Limited, is a joint venture between the London Borough of Barnet and Capita. Re runs the Council’s development and regulatory services including strategic planning, development management and regeneration services and will deliver growth in the Borough and develop a new and exciting consultancy business, which will supplement the core activities. Re aim to build better services, provide value for money, support the local economy and make Barnet an even better place to live and work

About Brent Cross

Delivering a new town for London is a huge undertaking; do you want to be part of team that is leading on key elements of one of the largest regeneration programmes in Europe?

Brent Cross is a £4billion mixed-used regeneration scheme covering over 150 acres in North West London.

We are working with London Borough of Barnet and the private sector to facilitate the construction of a new shopping centre and the creation of a new town centre. In addition the scheme will provide 7,500 new homes, space for over 20,000 jobs, supported by a new Thameslink station and the biggest ever TfL road project. This new urban quarter will make Barnet one of the most vibrant areas of London, a place where people will want to live, work and invest.

What you will do:

  • Working with the Brent Cross North development partners to bring forward and assess Reserved Matter Applications and pre-commencement approvals associated with the Brent Cross Shopping Centre expansion in accordance with the outline planning permission;
  • Working with the Council’s new development partner for Brent Cross South to bring forward new housing, retail and office development in accordance with the outline planning permission and wider planning policy framework;
  • Working closely with the Council’s Regeneration Service to advice on the planning strategy for the new Thameslink Station, Waste Handling Facility and Rail Freight Facility, provide pre-application input and advice and determine the associated reserved matters and drop-in planning applications;
  • Discharging a range of pre-RMA and pre-commencement conditions. These conditions are wide ranging and will include the co-ordination of specialist transport, environmental and legal input.
  • The post holder will process and assess a caseload of planning applications and provide support to principal planners and managers on planning matters to assist service delivery in relation the project;
  • Working with principal planners to provide pre-application advice to developers and process and assess planning applications, reserved matters applications, section 73 applications, section 96a applications, discharge of conditions and other relevant applications associated with the development;
  • To operate as a planning professional, utilizing knowledge of development management and strategic planning;
  • To carry out a broad range of administrative work to assist service delivery including coordinating the registration of new applications, review and appraise technical reports, plans and planning documents associated with planning submissions for the project;
  • To prepare accurate and timely officer delegated reports and committee reports for planning and other Council committees, and briefing papers to Councillors and members of the public;
  • Attending and advising meetings of Council Committees, Cabinet and other formal and informal groups;
  • Develop and maintain good communication and relationships with the Regeneration Service and other departments within Re, the Council and the developer partners and to provide excellent customer service through the production of high quality work and by acting in a professional manner;
  • Acts as a direct point of contact to the project on information and documentation control matters.
  • Ensure that the document controls activities comply with project governance.
Your experience will include:
  • Minimum 3 years previous experience in a Planning or related technical department in dealing with a range of planning applications and the processes involved as well as dealing with developers and engaging with a range of stakeholders;
  • Some expertise at in at least one of the following areas of planning work and a broad appreciation of the other specialist areas:
    • Policy, development plans, local development documents and spatial planning;
    • Urban Design, architecture, heritage and conservation, Masterplanning;
    • Projects, strategic development, and regeneration, development frameworks, corporate initiatives;
    • Development Management
  • Degree in planning or discipline related to post and/or experience in a related field;
  • Knowledge and understanding of planning legislation and procedures and issues relevant to the post and ability to make quality planning decisions;
  • Proven ability to read plans and maps to a good standard and interpret information spatially;
  • Ability to successfully work under pressure and meet deadlines, performance targets and produce regular consistent output of work to high standards;
  • Good verbal and written communication and presentation skills and ability to prepare clear and concise reports, briefings and correspondence;
  • Good negotiation skills and ability to achieve effective outcomes;
  • Able to integrate and work successfully as part of a team and positively contribute to its development and performance;
  • Ability to act on own initiative, to plan and prioritise and manage own work to meet deadlines and deliver outcomes within set timescales;
  • Good IT skills including successful experience in the application of planning related and geographical information systems (GIS), Microsoft Windows, Word, spreadsheets and databases;
  • Well-developed analytical and problem-solving skills and experience and demonstration of investigating, analysing, recommending and presenting solutions to planning problems;
What’s in it for you?

At Capita, training and development aren’t optional extras: they’re how we do our job. We will motivate you to perform at your peak, recognising your achievements and rewarding them appropriately. As well as a generous basic salary we also give you23 day’s holiday, company pension scheme and access to voluntary benefit options including; child care vouchers, share save scheme, life assurance, holiday buy and many more designed to suit your own personal lifestyle. All of this, in a professional but fun environment.

What we hope you will do next

Help us find out more about you by completing our short application process – click apply now.

Capita operates as an equal opportunities employer and we welcome all applications regardless of gender, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or beliefs, disability, age, political opinions or trade union membership.





From July 2017...


Principal Transport Planner - Brent Cross

Job overview
Vacancy ID: 45790
Work location UK - England - London
Office location: Barnet
Position category: Construction and Engineering
Shift:
Work pattern:
Business unit: Local Government
Employment type: Permanent, Full Time
Education required: Not specified
Vacancy closing date: Jul 28 2017 [please, please, will no-one bite??]

Senior Planner - Brent Cross

Job overview
Vacancy ID: 46156
Work location UK - England - London
Office location: Barnet
Position category: Construction and Engineering
Shift:
Work pattern:
Business unit: Local Government
Employment type: Permanent, Full Time
Education required: Not specified
Vacancy closing date: Jul 31 2017 [abandon hope all thee...]




Financial Times: "Landlords' differing fortunes reveal split in UK retail


Link to web site

"... Mike Prew, an analyst at investment bank Jefferies, who has long been pessimistic about the prospects for shopping centre landlords, says investors simply did not believe in the property values that were being reported:
"You have forward-looking equity capital not believing backward-looking valuations. I think we're about to go through a major correction in the UK retail market."
"... Set starkly against the fortunes of Hammerson and Intu is Segro, which owns the warehouses retailers use to store and deliver goods ordered online. Segro has ridden the online shopping boom to deliver record profits."

2018-02-23

Financial Times: "Hammerson likely to be axed from FTSE 100"


Link to web site

"Hammerson owns shopping centres in the UK, Ireland, and France, including the Brent Cross shopping centre in London.

"Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said:
"In the mind of [those bearish on the shares], this leaves the company exposed on two fronts.

First, trading conditions in the UK for bricks-and-mortar retailers remains tough, as wage growth remains sluggish, the UK savings ratio is low, and doubts persist about how the British economy will fare after Brexit.

Second, competition from online rivals remains as fierce as ever, and many retailers are finding themselves with too much floor space, prompting fears over weak rent reviews and rising vacancies."



2018-02-20

Barnet Times: "Twitter spat breaks out over driving short distances between political parties"


Link to web site

"A row broke out between political parties on Twitter over driving short distances.

"Anne Clarke, the Childs Hill ward Labour candidate for the Barnet Council elections in May, tweeted a poll asking whether it is considered 'socially acceptable' for people in London to drive short distances, unless for medical need.

"This was met with outrage from various Conservative councillors, including the council's deputy leader, Cllr Dan Thomas, Cllr Rohit Grover and Cllr Gabriel Rozenberg, who felt she was condemning local residents for their travel habits."

2018-02-14

Evening Standard: "Barnet residents suffer 'heartbreaking' defeat in nine-year battle against rail super-hub"


Link to web site

"A nine-year campaign by residents against a planned London rail 'super-hub' has suffered a huge blow after councillors backed it by a single vote.

"Barnet council's planning committee voted six to five to approve the scheme for a freight transfer site for aggregate and building materials at Edgware Road, Cricklewood."

Barnet Times: "Cricklewood campaigners express anger over new rail freight 'superhub'"


Link to web site

"Campaigners have expressed their fury over the decision to build a rail freight facility near a residential area.

"Barnet Council's planning committee approved the building of a new rail freight facility, which has been dubbed an 'aggregate superhub' was approved with six votes in favour and five votes against on Thursday.

"The rail freight facility, to be built on existing railway land in Cricklewood, is part of the £4.5billion Brent Cross/Cricklewood regeneration project."

2018-02-13

Barnet Eye: "Barnet Tories approve Cricklewood aggregates superhub"




"Last Thursday night, the Barnet Conservatives forced through the planning permission for the Cricklewood aggregates superhub. This was a story first broken by The Barnet Eye. We noticed some 'unusual' building building works on the railway land to the west of the Midland Mainline. A quick review of Barnet Council's website revealed that a rather sketchy planning application for an aggregates hub. This revealed that there would be a huge number of lorry movements. 

When we posted the story, the local community were unaware. Within days, there were hundreds of objections. Eventually this was withdrawn and a new scheme submitted, which has attracted over 800 objections.

What disgusted me was that the work had begun without planning permission. Whilst there appears to be one rule for ordinary residents, there clearly is another for large companies such as DB rail.

With regards to the actual proposal, I have very mixed feelings. I had a very interesting conversation with the leader of Barnet Council about this subject several months back. Richard stated that 'whether the aggregates come in by road or rail, they will come in anyway. Bringing them to Cricklewood by rail will mean less lorries and less pollution.. He is of course correct in his statement, but it is a far more complex issue."  [LINK]


Brent & Kilburn Times: "Campaigners lose bid to block controversial rail ‘super-hub’ on Brent boundary"


Link to web site

"A Brent councillor has criticised approval for the controversial Cricklewood rail super-hub next door to the borough.

"Barnet Council have given the go-ahead for the Cricklewood rail 'super-hub' despite campaigners urging the council not to proceed because of the effect on other areas.

"The site lies on the boundary between Brent, Camden and Barnet.

"The vote narrowly passed at the planning meeting, with all Conservative councillors, who have a majority on the committee, backing the plans."

2018-02-08

Inside Croydon: "South Norwood pensioner wins Shard legal battle with Qataris"


"PERRY MASSON, our court reporter, on an extraordinary turn of events at the Royal Courts of Justice today"

Link to web site

"Ian Bone, the South Norwood pensioner threatened with a High Court injunction by lawyers acting on behalf of the uber-rich Qatari royal family, today emerged from the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand claiming victory for the common man, freedom of speech and common sense.

"Bone stood to pay the Qataris' legal costs and ultimately risked even losing his home in a dispute over whether he has the right to protest at The Shard."

Brent & Kilburn Times: "Brent MP backs councillors call for Cricklewood rail 'super hub' decision postponement"


Link to web site

"Brent Central MP, Dawn Butler, is rallying behind a group of Brent councillors ahead of a pivotal meeting tonight on Cricklewood's freight 'super hub'.

"The plans are set to go to a Barnet Council planning meeting, for them to approve the aggregate transfer station on the Edgware Road site.

"While sitting within the borough of Barnet, the proposed site for the 'super hub' sits near its border with Brent."

2018-02-01

Barnet Times: "Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration subject of public meeting"


Link to web site

"Emotions ran high as project managers were put through their paces while discussing a new waste transfer station.

"A public meeting was held to give residents the chance to share their views on a new waste transfer station to be built in Cricklewood, by Edgware Road.

"... Capita was without answers for residents' concerns, and didn't even have a slide for the aggregate superhub at the meeting.

"The 'superhub' was also a hot topic, referring to a rail freight station which is also expected to be built."