[Reposted] Regeneration Manager - Brent Cross (This role has had more regenerations than Doctor Who)

Posted by Capita

London, South East England
Permanent, full-time

Salary negotiable
0 applications [we're saying nothing]

Regeneration Manager - Brent Cross

About the role

Capita Re is looking for a Regeneration Manager 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. This is an exciting role and a great step up for a Regeneration officer or Development Manager who would like to work in a large PMO.

This role will see you work closely with the Council and Regeneration Partners to develop and deliver the BXC Programme, exploring and taking the lead on technically assessing options as required, to maintain momentum on delivery and realise wider regeneration objectives and outcomes.

As the Regeneration Manager, you will manage the working relationships with stakeholders/partners and residents to provide high quality support to achieve the agreed outcomes and objectives.

About Capita Re  [No, really]

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.

What you will do:

• Assist on driving the delivery of Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration programme. This will include working on land assembly, legal agreements, planning, masterplanning, stakeholder management, community consultation and project management and reporting.
• Utilise high level and a broad range of technical skills to review and assess options for maintaining momentum on regeneration delivery and influence the shape and direction of individual schemes. Act to provide added value through constructive challenge to project scope and set up, potentially conflicting with clients and stakeholders.
• Proactively develop and manage relationships with partners and other service areas so as to ensure that the Regeneration Service retains both a positive and professional role in the delivery of the regeneration schemes and wider regeneration benefits within a culture that values residents, equality and diversity.
• Offer high level, timely and accurate specialist/expert policy advice, research and project development support to all stakeholders.
• With an outcome focused approach, encourage and apply creative and flexible approaches in implementing programmes through the partnership structures, in response to changing circumstances.
• Apply a proactive approach to unblocking problems and barriers, cutting through unnecessary bureaucracy in delivering solutions that keep the project on track.
• Complete each project in accordance with the organisation's quality and professional standards, processes, policies and procedures and within regulatory frameworks and financial approved limits.
• Work effectively with project team members including consultants and project support staff, managing the fluctuating size of the project team over the course of the project.
• Apply a rigorous financial management and business planning approach to project management ensuring strict cost/time management against budgets.
• Maintain robust audit trails in line with best practice and Re/Council systems and procedures.

Your experience will include:

• Regeneration, Housing or Property related qualification desirable (RICS or equivalent)
• Degree level or equivalent professional qualification in related area
• An excellent working knowledge of a broad range of relevant professional/technical skills, i.e. town planning, housing, development finance, construction, procurement etc., to support the successful management of a complex regeneration project.
• Understanding of the scope and content of current legislation and regulations which affect and impact on the regeneration projects.
• Knowledge and understanding of the role of partnerships, the private sector and the external market and the processes to harness resources and deliver completed regeneration projects.
• Knowledge and experience of establishing and managing commercial/contractual arrangements for complex regeneration programmes including Partnership Models, Development Agreements, S106 and S278 Agreements
• Sound knowledge and experience of project and programme methodologies such as Prince 2 or Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) a record of achievement in applying the principles of effective project and programme management
• Experience of and a track record of achievement in effectively managing all aspects of complex regeneration schemes.

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 you 23 day's [sic!] 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.

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.

Capita Resourcing is a trading name of Capita Resourcing Ltd. Services offered are those of an Employment Agency and Employment Business, and you really are meant to keep a straight face when reading the advert above. [They didn't say that.]

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Late News:

"Sorry, the job you're looking for is no longer being advertised. However, you can still search for similar jobs."

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Late, Late News:

Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here.
Reed advertised the wretched poisoned chalice again yesterday.

Touchstone (TUC): "The Econocracy: the stunning new book from Rethinking Economics"

ISBN: 9781526110138

Publisher: MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS

Format: Paperback

Publication date: 31 Oct 2016

Link to web site

"The 'Rethinking Economics' student movement has been one of the few highlights of the dismal years since the financial crisis. In their new book The Econocracy: The perils of leaving economics to the experts, three of their number – Joe Earle, Cahal Moran and Zach Ward-Perkins – set out in full their case for the reform of academic economics and society’s relation with economics more generally.

"The book is stunning in so many ways: the excellent and accessible writing, with sometimes a wonderful turn of phrase and wry understatement [including]:

"Illustrating the difficulty of getting an unqualified apology from economists, the response to the Queen by Tim Besley and Peter Hennessy concluded that the crisis had been 'a failure of the collective imagination of many bright people [by which they meant themselves] … to understand the risks to the system as a whole'."

"An economics degree amounts to indoctrination in a single abstract theory of a world that does not exist. Students are not even made aware that there are some economists who hold different views. So Rethinking Economics (then Post-Crash Economics) had to search them out for themselves, and found not only alternative theories, but alternatives that seemed better able to explain the world – not least since the financial crisis.

"They call for an economics education where students are confronted with different points of view and are trained to develop skills to be able to choose between them. In the meantime economics graduates are ill-equipped for their work as professional economists, and this at the precise moment when economics has never been more important in the affairs of the world."

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Link to Manchester University Press

Further reviews:

"If war is too important to be left to the generals, so is the economy too important to be left to narrowly trained economists. Yet, as this book shows, such economists are precisely what we are getting from our leading universities.

"Given the role economists play in our society, we need them to be much more than adepts in manipulating equations based on unrealistic assumptions. This book demonstrates just why that matters and offers thought-provoking ideas on how to go about it."

 - Martin Wolf, Associate Editor and Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times

"A rousing wake-up call to the economics profession to re-think its mission in society, from a collective of dissident graduate students. Their double argument is that the 'econocracy' of economists and economic institutions which has taken charge of our future is not fit for purpose, and, in any case, it contradicts the idea of democratic control.

"So the problem has to be tackled at both ends: creating a different kind of economics, and restoring the accountability of the experts to the citizens. The huge nature of the challenge does not daunt this enterprising group, whose technically assured, well-argued, and informative book must be read as a manifesto of what they hope will grow into a new social reform movement."

 - Lord Robert Skidelsky, Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at Warwick University and Fellow of the British Academy in History and Economics

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Link to web site

"The End of Alchemy" by Mervyn King - a former Bank of England governor on the City's hubris and greed: 'The Guardian' review

"Former governors of the Bank of England do not, with the odd 19th-century exception, write books – least of all books like The End of Alchemy, whose bibliography starts with Dean Acheson, the US secretary of state under Truman, and finishes with Stefan Zweig, taking in Thomas Carlyle, Friedrich Hayek and Arthur Waley on the way.

"But then, Mervyn King was never a governor out of central casting. He grew up in the West Midlands; he is not privately educated; his devotion to Aston Villa runs longer, deeper and more constant than the prime minister's; and for many years, before joining the bank in 1991, he was an academic economist. He also has a hinterland, quoting at the outset two of TS Eliot’s most haunting lines: 'Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?/ Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?' – lines that any education minister should have pinned up on their office wall.

"...The financial crisis of 2007-8, centred on the US and the UK, was probably the worst – amid fairly stiff competition – that the industrialised world had seen over the past two centuries; and its immediate consequence was a serious recession, followed by the era of weak and spasmodic economic growth in which we still find ourselves. Why did it happen?"

24housing: "HCA appoints new chief executive" (unfortunately it's the ex-chief executive of Barnet Council)

"The Homes and Communities Agency has appointed a new chief executive.

"Nick joins the agency with years of experience of providing strong leadership and delivering housing and regeneration schemes. He has been chief executive of Haringey Council for the past four years, having previously been chief executive of Barnet Council.

"Nick led a major transformation of Haringey Council, restructuring the authority, streamlining management arrangements and stabilising high-risk services."

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Link to web site

2012: The Guardian: "'easy-Council' chief executive quits to lead Labour-controlled Haringey"

"The council chief executive responsible for implementing the Conservatives' radical 'easyCouncil' vision of privatised local authority services has quit to lead a Labour-led borough.

"Nick Walkley, boss of the London borough of Barnet, announced his resignation on Thursday night, plunging into doubt the leadership of the Conservative-controlled council's programme of selling off services including cemeteries, transport, planning and environmental health.

"Contracts worth an estimated £1bn are in the process of being let to the private sector and decisions were due to be made in the coming months, with British Telecom, Capita and EC Harris among the companies in the running to take over. Walkley was also understood to be in the process of re-organising the council management structure to remove layers that would become redundant."

Claim from the Capita-Barnet-TavistockCommunications-Hammerson-StandardLife-Argent-Related consortium: Brent Cross is not a car-based development

Reputation Management

"A good reputation is your most valuable commodity and needs nurturing and protecting.  It can be lost very quickly, and can be very hard to regain.  There will of course be times when events move beyond one's control. It is not so much what happens, but how you are seen to react to it, that is important.

"In many ways, a good reputation can be retained - and even enhanced - by explaining clearly, succinctly and swiftly what has happened and what is being done to rectify the situation. We regularly advise companies and individuals on how best to turn a potential crisis into an exercise in good reputation management. A combination of rigorous preparation, instinctive flair and the ability to make the right decisions under pressure leads to the best results, and we pride ourselves on helping our clients to achieve just that.

"We also advise individuals including ultra high net worth, high profile and individual Board directors. This can be on specific communications projects or on issues management across the reputational landscape. [Ah, the reputational landscape. Who wrote this rubbish?]

"Discretion and trust are critical commodities in this process and they must, and do, flow both ways."

What Tavistock Communications does

"We help our clients to articulate messages and open dialogues with their stakeholders, building relationships and strengthening reputations.

"We create, plan and deliver carefully targeted communications campaigns to support our clients’ objectives. We have the capability and experience to handle a client’s everyday needs as well as advising on specific projects, such as raising capital, acquiring a competitor, expanding geographically or launching a product."

Corporate Transactions

"We have advised our clients through transactions worth hundreds of billions of pounds. We have helped clients through turnaround campaigns, high profile insolvencies, regulatory investigations, public enquiries and litigation. Our extensive experience includes working on the largest hostile bid and eventual takeover in global corporate history.

"In all of these situations, we act as our clients’ conduit to the media, to investors, to regulators and to governments. We safeguard their brands and make sure their voice is heard, loudly and clearly, with their target audiences." [Not going so well, then, is it?]

The Observer: "Themes of 2016: technology puts millions of jobs in jeopardy"

"Innovation threatens social and economic upheaval and our existing institutions are not fit to handle the change"

Boot up the web site

"In a sense, it was surprising that 2016 was the year in which the social threat posed by rapid technological progress became a topic of serious and widespread discussion. It was, after all, the first year since 2007 when all of the world’s advanced economies managed to grow and in which unemployment rates fell across the rich world.

"Yet those bright spots could not distract from other worries. Pay rises remain elusive for many workers, despite economic growth. Each day seems to bring new evidence of the massive economic disruption to come: from self-driving vehicles deployed by Tesla and Uber to experimentation with cashier-less shops by Amazon.

"But the biggest warning signs that something in society has gone awry were the political shocks of Brexit and Donald Trump. These votes seemed to reflect not just a resentment at the elites who have captured most of the gains from recent economic growth, but also the dawning realisation that the economic and social marginalisation of whole classes of people might, thanks to technological change, become a permanent feature of the landscape."

Just Space: "Mayor’s plans for 'The London Plan' need toughening up"

12 December 2016

"London Community groups today welcome the new Mayor's ambitions to make this a city 'for all' but his proposals need a lot of sharpening if they are to turn the tide of developer-domination of London's growth.

"Responses to the Mayor's first document, A city for all Londoners, closed last night and the Just Space network response is here: just-space-response-to-a-city-for-all-Londoners [and below]. The Mayor’s report, together with reports and slide shows from the various consultation events held in November 2916 are all here: https://www.london.gov.uk/get-involved/have-your-say/all-consultations/city-all-londoners

"The launch process has been much more open than under Ken Livingstone or Boris Johnson and that is very welcome. Large numbers of community group representatives have been able to take part in one or more of the 8 topic workshops organised by City Hall. What's more the discussions which took place at each one, at a dozen or so round tables, have been written up quickly and published – all on that same web page.

"The stage is thus set for a well-informed debate over the coming months as the various City Hall teams draft the Mayor’s strategies for Economy, Housing, Transport, Health Inequalities, Culture, Environment and Policing and the London Plan itself which is meant to bind all these together. Just Space has welcomed this approach and looks forward to playing an active role."

2016 12 Just Space Response to a City for All Londoners by scribdstorage on Scribd

[Reposted] Hammerson's Waste Incinerator: (Part of Barnet's corrupt Brent Cross approved planning consent)

This already has planning permission!
(Click to enlarge; the labels have been added to the original.
Barnet is to the left of the A5, Brent to the right.)

Link to PDF file

A BXC document (dated 1 December 2011) has been produced by LB of Barnet.

"A new rail linked WHF to replace and significantly enhance the existing Hendon Waste Transfer Station (HWTS) is proposed on a site fronting Edgware Road (A5) and Geron Way. This will be secured in partnership with the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) whose existing HWTS will close [and is presumably this tax-haven-based 'Cricklewood' site, alongside this tax-haven-based Willesden site].

"A Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant will be built close to Staples Corner [with permission for a 140-metre chimney, near the shopping centre].

It is intended (subject to feasibility studies and further statutory approvals in relation to detailed design and operating processes) to use a refuse derived fuel supplied by the new Waste Handling Facility (WHF), which would fulfil high standards of on-site renewable energy generation."

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Link to HOME (see all posts).

[Reposted from July 2013] Boris offers a new London Overground service to Hendon Thameslink, stopping at Brent Cross

As part of the GLA Old Oak Common consultation, Boris is suggesting a new London Overground service from Hendon Thameslink (or possibly Mill Hill Broadway) to Old Oak Common HS2/Crossrail station, in west London.

Services would likely be extended to either Hounslow or Clapham Junction. 

This would allow a 'Brent Cross (London Overground) station', whether or not a Brent Cross (Thameslink) station is ever built alongside it. 

(The outline is of the LB of Brent)

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The new town of Old Oak Common,
north of Wormwood Scrubs
(It looks like Brent Cross Cricklewood, but it is based
around public transport)

"The Government has announced proposals for a new High Speed 2 (HS2) and Crossrail station at Old Oak, not far from the Brent borough boundary at Willesden Junction, by 2026, potentially making it one of the best connected railway stations in the UK.

"This could give rise to significant potential for economic development, jobs growth and new homes as well as delivering major improvements to accessibility, particularly by rail, to the wider area in and around Harlesden.

"Brent, together with the GLA, TfL and the neighbouring boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham and Ealing, have been considering the potential for regenerating the wider area and are seeking views on a 30-year vision for Old Oak. [Kensington & Chelsea backed out at the last minute.]

"There is an opportunity, up until Friday 6 September 2013, to comment on this vision on the Mayor of London's website.

"View full details of the vision and how to comment on the proposals."

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Link to HOME (see all posts).

Daily Telegraph: "Colossus – the first ever programmable electronic computer was unveiled at Dollis Hill"

Link to web site

"During the Second World War, Thomas 'Tommy' Flowers MBE, son of a bricklayer, was working as senior engineer for the General Post Office Engineering Department at its Research Station in Dollis Hill, north-west London. The GPO Engineering Department would eventually evolve into today's BT.

"In February 1941 he took a call from Alan Turing, the codebreaker at Bletchley Park. Turing needed a decoder for the 'relay-based Bombe machine' which he had developed to help decrypt the German Enigma codes.

"Although the project eventually folded, Turing was so impressed with Tommy that he introduced him to Max Newman, the man leading the wartime effort to break more sophisticated German ciphers, in particular the coded messages used by the central German High Command, which were created by the Lorenz encryption device."

LookWest: "Sadiq publishes estate regen guide"

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has published a draft good practice guide for estate regeneration, adherence to which would be a condition of GLA funding for any such scheme.

The guide recommends that residents must be involved at an early stage to help shape any proposals by boroughs and housing associations for estate regeneration. The draft guidelines, which have been developed with councils, housing associations and residents’ groups in recent months, recommend full rights for tenants to be rehoused on newly regenerated estates as well as a fair deal for leaseholders.

The Mayor has also set out his expectation that demolition and rebuilding should only go ahead after other ways of achieving the aim of regeneration have been considered, and where there is no loss of social housing.

The guidelines, which will be consulted on for three months, will be included in the conditions for future City Hall funding for new estate regeneration projects.

The new standards will also be applied through the planning system where possible, says the Mayor, as well as acting as a benchmark for boroughs, developers and housing associations to follow, even if the regeneration schemes do not involve the Mayor.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said:

"When done well, regeneration can be a positive way of protecting and improving housing estates in our great city. It offers the chance to improve the quality of housing and nearby public space, as well as building more and new affordable homes.

Many councils are developing good practice in examples of estate regenerations across the capital – through this guide, I want to bring together the approaches that have worked well.

I hope this guide will help to show that when local residents are involved from the start, and when key principles are followed, estate regeneration can help us build a city for all Londoners."

Councillor Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council, said:

"I share the Mayor’s belief that people not buildings should be at the heart of estate regeneration plans.  The Mayor’s new guide sets clear standards for the housing sector and provides a commitment to estate residents that their needs will be prioritised.

In Ealing we, like other boroughs, are trying to increase the housing supply across a mix of tenures, including through major regeneration projects on several of our estates. We have learnt that when you include the community in the decision making process your regeneration plans are significantly improved and you are able to build the spirit of that community into your future plans."

Barnet Council said:

"Good Grief - our arrogance, incompetence and corruption have been found out. Still, it was a good run while it lasted!"

[It didn't really say that. Although it could have done.]

[Reposted] LB of Barnet: Transport Strategy up to 2035 (believe it or not)

(From the minutes of the meeting)

MOVING AROUND IN BARNET - "A DIRECTION OF TRAVEL"

The Commissioning Director for Environment introduced the item and the intentions of the report. Following the consideration of the item the Committee:

Resolved to:

• That the Environment Committee instruct the Commissioning Director for Environment to develop an overarching long-term Transport Strategy for the London Borough of Barnet
• That the Environment Committee agreed the period of the strategy to 2035
• That the Environment Committee noted the scope of the strategy which was outlined within the report
• That the Environment Committee approved the formation the project board and an Elected Members cross party group.

The recommendations were unanimously agreed.

Moving Around in Barnet a Direction of Travel

Link to Barnet Times

Leadership on Transport and Environmental Matters in LB of Barnet


"After Brian Coleman was ousted from his role as Totteridge councillor on Barnet Borough Council, the Times Series takes a look back at some of his most controversial moments."

"Formerly a Totteridge councillor, he received 265 votes in the May 2014 election – which those present at the count pointed out was fewer than the number of his Twitter followers.

"... In May 2012, he was sacked from Barnet Council's cabinet at a Conservative Party meeting and removed from his post as cabinet member for environment after voters deserted the politician at the polls in the GLA elections.

"When he was later booted out of his role as the chairman of the London Fire Authority, firefighters said they were 'pleased to see the back of him'.

"Months later, he sparked more outrage by describing people in the public gallery at a council meeting as 'the sad, the mad and a couple of hags'.

"The former GLA member was also hauled in front of the council’s standards committee following complaints about offensive e-mails."

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Ham & High:

Video: Disgraced politician Brian Coleman urged to resign over assault of mum-of-two

Evening Standard: Cycle and Bus Lanes in Barnet (ah, those were the days)

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Daily Telegraph: "Mark Carney warns Britain is suffering first lost decade since 1860 as people across Europe lose trust in globalisation"

"Bank of England Governer said it was 'incredible' that real incomes had not risen in past 10 years [and] there was growing sense of 'isolation and  detachment' among people left behind by globalisation"

Link to web site

"Britain is experiencing its first 'lost decade' of economic growth for 150 years, the Governor of the Bank of England has warned.

"At a speech in Liverpool on Monday, Mr Carney said:

"We meet today during the first lost decade since the 1860s. Over the past decade real earnings have grown at the slowest rate since the mid-19th century."

"This lack of growth had caused inequalities, he said, and led people to question their futures and the benefits of globalisation. Many people across the advanced world were 'losing trust' in a system that did not 'raise all boats', he said.

"Far from enjoying a 'golden era', globalisation for these people had become 'associated with low wages, insecure employment, stateless corporations and striking inequalities'."

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Link to web site

BBC:
"Carney: Get real, there are losers from free trade"

"Shouldn't Mr Carney limit his comments to interest rate policy and inflation targeting - the central parts of the Bank's remit?

"And, if he doesn't, isn't he in danger of straying into the political arena, always difficult for an unelected official?

"I don't believe Mr Carney sees it that way.

"Issues such as the good functioning of economies fall squarely within the Bank's remit, the governor believes.

"The first line of the Bank's charter was drafted in 1694 and demands that the Bank 'promote the public Good and Benefit of our People' (which at that time meant paying for a war against France, a manoeuvre Mr Carney is not, one assumes, presently contemplating)."

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The Guardian: "The Soviet Union collapsed overnight. Don’t assume western democracy will last for ever" (actually, at Brent Cross it already hasn't)

"The liberal order could fall apart just as suddenly as the USSR. If we want it to survive, we have to learn from what happened in Russia"

LB of Barnet and Hammerson in substantive talks

"Below the medieval citadel in Kazan, two vast frozen rivers turn the landscape white. On a Saturday afternoon there are a few hardy locals shuffling through the icy sludge to take selfies against the mosque, the Christmas lights and the Soviet-era statues.

"It's 25 years since I was last in Russia, trying and failing to revive the left during the chaotic first days of Boris Yeltsin’s economic reforms. Half a lifetime later I am here to address a room full of people who want to talk about replacing capitalism with something better – and suddenly we have something in common: now we both know what it’s like to see a system that once looked permanent collapsing.

"Since I've been here, almost everyone who has chosen to come and hear me is involved in either contemporary arts or philosophy. The journalists who want to interview me – a public critic of Putin's policy in Syria and Ukraine – mainly write for cultural magazines. These, if not exactly the new rock'n'roll, are the safest intellectual spaces in which critical thought can take place."

[Reposted - well, Brian's so popular] Daily Telegraph: "£100,000 pay-offs for council chiefs"

Link to Daily Telegraph

"Ministers [have] told local authorities to end the culture of 'eye-watering' compensation packages of up to £420,000 to former bosses.

"Brandon Lewis, the local government minister, accused the councils of showing a 'lack of respect' to taxpayers after figures compiled by this newspaper showed that scores of executives received six-figure sums on top of their salaries and pension contributions when they left their posts.

"... Barnet borough council, in north London, has paid almost £1 million to six executives over the past two years.

"Brian Reynolds, the former director of environment and development, received a £280,485 pay-off, on top of his £107,000 salary and pension payments. He has since formed Brian Reynolds Associates, a consultancy, and runs the Local Government Association’s 'productivity programme' to help make councils more efficient.

"A spokesman for Barnet said that it had saved £1.5 million by reducing its management team, but that it had to 'honour contracts'."

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# You're A Pink Toothbrush, #
# I'm A Blue Toothbrush, ... #
(Sing along with Brian)

"Brian Reynolds Associates"

"Brian Reynolds has 10 years’ experience at the top level in local government. He was the Deputy Chief Executive of the London Borough of Barnet from 2000 to 2010, where he was responsible for regeneration, housing, planning, environment and adult social care. Brian was also part of the team that led the Council to the top Comprehensive Performance Assessment score in 2007/8.

"... At L B Barnet, Brian set up and led their housing estate regeneration programme in 2000. ... Despite the recession, that programme has been remarkably successful at Academy Court (formerly Stonegrove/Spur Road), at New Hendon Village (formerly Grahame Park) in Colindale, and most recently at Hendon Waterside (formerly West Hendon estate).

"... In 2008 Brian led the Council team that negotiated the commercial terms with Hammerson and Standard Life for the £4.2bn regeneration of Brent Cross & Cricklewood. This is a huge mixed use retail, housing and other commercial development scheme covering 150 acres and involving half a million sq ft of additional retail space, 7,500 new homes, and 20,000 new jobs.

"Brian also led on the development of the 'Barnet Bond' – a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) style proposal that eventually found its way into the Local Government Finance Bill 2011 as the Business Rate Retention Scheme."
 

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From a reader:

"Dear Brent Cross Coalition,

"I have been very impressed by the fine development at 'Academy (Stonegrove) Court', particularly this delightful view from the flats/apartments:

"My admiration also applies to the equally-fine development at '(West) Hendon Waterside', including this oddly-familiar view from the flats/apartments:

"I understand that Brian Reynolds Associates have acted as consultants on the two schemes. We should congratulate them (him?) on the remarkable consistency they (he?) have achieved. These matters can so easily slip into tiresome individuality, unless rigid standardisation is enforced by talented and experienced executives."

Yours, P. Rachman Esq., Paddington

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Link to RUDInet web site

RUDInet: "New London town centre with CHP plant and new rail station: plans submitted to Barnet Council"

"Plans for one of the biggest regeneration schemes ever undertaken in London have been submitted to Barnet Council. The £4.5 billion regeneration is designed to provide a new gateway to the capital and a vibrant new urban quarter in Barnet.

"The plans for a whole new town centre based around Cricklewood and Brent Cross would create 27,000 jobs, 7,500 homes, 3 schools, new health facilities, high quality parks and open spaces, and investment of more than £400 million in improving transport.

"The proposals from development partners, Brookfield Europe, formerly Multiplex [not any longer; they've cleared off], Hammerson and Standard Life Investments [still hanging in, just], also include a commitment to pioneering standards of environmental sustainability." [Yeh, right.]

"... The Leader of Barnet Council, Cllr Mike Freer, welcomed the proposals. He said:

"This is a major development, that will deliver a new residential area of the highest quality, and which will also achieve the highest possible eco-standards. It will enable us to deliver our policy to 'Protect, Enhance and Grow', by providing a huge boost to employment, while at the same time safeguarding the environment."

"The Development Director for the Brent Cross Cricklewood Development Partners, Jonathan Joseph, said:

"This application represents a unique opportunity to deliver the long recognised potential for regeneration in Brent Cross Cricklewood, and create a thriving new town centre that will put this part of North West London firmly on the map.

Our plans will bring new homes, jobs, shops, schools, parks and leisure facilities, and the largest investment in transport and community infrastructure in the area's history. It is rare for London to get a new mainline station – and we will deliver one here. ['We'? Perhaps only in the world of Thomas the Tank Engine.]

Climate change is a vitally-important global issue, and we will use the latest technologies to increase recycling, maximise the use of renewable fuel, and reduce the scheme's carbon footprint.

'We firmly believe this is a scheme that will hugely benefit Barnet and London."
[Even if stuck with just the 'Brent Cross Living Bridge' [sic] now?]

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'Estates Gazette' video

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Link to HOME (see all posts).

Washington Post: "Robots won’t kill the workforce, they’ll save the global economy"

"Across the world, the labor pool isn't growing fast enough to support our needs"

Reboot to web site

"The United Nations forecasts that the global population will rise from 7.3 billion to nearly 10 billion by 2050, a big number that often prompts warnings about overpopulation. Some have come from neo-Malthusians, who fear that population growth will outstrip the food supply, leaving a hungry planet.

"Others appear in the tirades of anti-immigrant populists, invoking the specter of a rising tide of humanity as cause to slam borders shut. Still others inspire a chorus of neo-Luddites, who fear that the 'rise of the robots' is rapidly making human workers obsolete, a threat all the more alarming if the human population is exploding.

"... [But] it may not be long before economists are worrying about a global shortage of robots. In many industrial countries, from Germany to Japan to South Korea, growth in the working-age population has already peaked, acting as a drag on the economy."

EngineeringUK: "The Future of Shopping Report 2016: Humanising Technology"

"Experts from the UK's most innovative tech companies, including Holition, have predicted a transformation of the British high street, as technology revolutionises the way we shop. From shop assistants, to in-store displays and virtual products, by 2050, high street shopping will be a radically different experience.

"The Future of Shopping Report collates articles from retail technology experts where each has a key role to play in shaping the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution' - a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.

Russell Freeman says:

"It's ironic that the fashion industry is renowned for its innovation, yet the way we shop is so old-fashioned. From having to use a changing room, to being offered limited space in a shop, the whole experience is generic. The future of shopping offers personalised experiences for people, dependent on their taste and mood and at Holition we see it as the humanising of technology.

Augmented reality, virtual reality, drone delivery and artificial intelligence will completely change the way we shop. It's an exciting time - on the cusp of a revolution - and The Big Bang Fair will inspire young people to bring to life all that technology has to offer."

2016 the Future of Shopping Compendium Final by scribdstorage on Scribd

Christmas Shopping at Brent Cross Shopping Centre - don't you just love all the exclamation marks!!

"By now, you’ve seen the adverts on TV, and the decorations are up everywhere you look. Christmas season is officially here. While the festive folk among us have been preparing since, well, last Christmas, the rest of us are readying ourselves for the plunge into Christmas mania. [Apparently.]

"Maybe you’ve got the majority of your presents sorted and just need to pick up a few last bits and bobs. Well done, you! [Yes, Well Done!]

"Maybe you’re so focused on keeping your inner Scrooge at bay, you haven't even thought about Christmas shopping yet. Bah Humbug!

"Take it from us; we know how daunting the 'big Christmas shop' can seem. But if you stick to these 9 insider secrets, you’ll breeze through Brent Cross and come out more savvy than Santa himself."

And so, as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, you can link to the web site.

Evening Standard: London traffic congestion (which LB of Barnet and Hammerson are trying to INCREASE, with their plans for a car-based Brent Cross shopping centre)

New Scientist: "The Future of Shopping: Robo Shop"

"Artificial intelligence and robotics are revolutionising business. And leading the way is the online grocery store Ocado"

Zap to web site

"IN THE control room at Ocado’s automated warehouse in Hatfield, 50 kilometres north of London, the firm's head of research is wielding something rather odd: an Xbox game controller. But Alex Harvey is not about to zap some aliens. Instead, with a deft twitch of his thumb, he zooms into a 3D computer model that looks, at first glance, like some kind of bizarre, multilayered train set.

"But this is actually an animated, real-time visualisation of the thicket of over 30 kilometres of conveyor systems in a warehouse the size of eleven football fields. It models the movement of thousands of crates around the conveyor belts to workstations where just a few human workers pack them to fulfil hundreds of thousands of online grocery orders every week.

"This simulation is crucial in designing the plant and testing the algorithms and software that controls it. And it also helps troubleshoot problems: if a crate jams, operators zoom in to see what's gone awry. 'The number of products picked per hour in a plant this size is so high that any minutes lost really matter,' says Harvey."