LondonLegacyCorp: "Exclusive behind the scenes tours of the Olympic Park" (£15. Hammerson's Brent Cross car park tour: Free)

Link to web site

"For a limited time only, people can visit the London 2012 site for an exclusive behind the scenes look at the developing Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and a chance to take a trip up the ArcelorMittal Orbit.

The new Park In Progress Tour is a fantastic opportunity to get on to the former Olympic site to see the creation of this whole new part of London, before the new Park begins to open to the public from July 2013.

"... The Tour includes a behind the scenes site briefing and a visit to the ArcelorMittal Orbit viewing platforms, where there is a new interactive experience telling the story of this extraordinary part of London."

Right-click on image, and choose PLAY.
Choose layers at top right of image of the park.
Or run it full-screen here.

---

The final chapter on a
sustainable London 2012"

The report shows public transport, walking and cycling were
key parts of the success of the Olympics and Paralympics.
"It says that the principles of inspiring more active forms of travel
through the staging of a major event and promoting
as many travel options as possible, both for those
travelling to the event and those that are temporarily
impacted, can be applied easily elsewhere."

(Report sponsored by Dow Chemicals)

Evening Standard: "First time buyers won't afford a house until they are 54, report warns"

Link to web site

"Aspiring first time buyers in London without access to “Bank of Mum and Dad” need to save for almost a quarter of a century to raise enough money for a deposit, a new report claims today.

"The average deposit currently stands at £58,000 on a typical 'first rung on the ladder' property costing £290,000.

"Even putting aside half of disposable income - after paying the rent, council tax, utility bills and other essentials - it would take 24 years to accumulate the cash."

---

Link to:

"Ferdinand Mount: Why we owe it to our children to build, build, build"

Barnet Times: "Flash mob takes over Brent Cross Shopping Centre to raise awareness of Langdon campaign"

Link to web site

"A 50-strong dance troupe took over Brent Cross Shopping Centre yesterday. The dancers danced to Michael Jackson’s Wannabe Starting Something to mark the launch of a local welfare charity’s new campaign.

"Langdon, an Edgware charity which supports people with learning disabilities, was launching its Love Langdon campaign which aims to raise awareness of the services Langdon provides for Jewish adults with learning disabilities."

Evening Standard: "British Land banks on Crossrail in £142m Ealing buy"

Link to web site

"Property giant British Land took a £142.5 million bet on Crossrail today, as it snapped up a major shopping centre in west London from its Dutch owner.

"... Ealing’s centre is almost 30 years old, and British Land thinks the deal will unlock redevelopment potential and shift its retail portfolio to London and the South-East. British Land retail head Charles Maudsley said:

“We believe there are opportunities to develop the shopping centre as a retail destination, both as we improve the retail mix and increase the leisure offer, and as the area benefits from residential development and the completion of Crossrail."

Sunday Telegraph: "Growth targets hit again, as 'big squeeze’ goes on"

Link to web site

"The Bank of England will cut its growth forecasts this week, and warn that the squeeze on family finances will last longer than expected, in a prediction likely to douse recent hopes that the UK was heading back to recovery.

"... Although the Bank will predict that growth will return, after two years of near stagnation, its outlook is likely to take the gloss off recent upbeat surveys showing that confidence in the recovery is building.

According to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), 2013 has started strongly. It has estimated that growth improved, from -0.3pc in the three months to December, to zero in the three months to January."

---

NIESR: "Zombie households"

"Is the UK economy being held back by 'zombie' households lumbered with too much debt to go out and spend? Dr Angus Armstrong, director of macroeconomic research at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, argues this problem is linked to growing inequality over the last 30 years."

---

Link to web site

The Observer:
"New Bank of England governor should heed Japan, trying to emerge from lost decade"

"Japan is engaging in investment and innovation across the board, and on a scale Britain can only dream of.

"Time after time, as I questioned company leaders about their capacity to do this, I was referred to Japan's 'public interest' or 'stakeholder' capitalism – committed long-term ownership, partnership with the state to drive research forward and corporate leaderships keen to find commercial responses to the giant economic and social problems of our time.

"It is a world foreign to our own [and the London Borough of Barnet, and off-shore tax-haven associated Hammerson] of shareholder value maximisation and gigantic personal bonuses, where interest in social problems is seen as 'anti-business'.

[Reposted] 15-24 Feb: Zippos Circus - Brent Cross!

"Tickets for Zippos Circus at Brent Cross"

(click on image)

"Zippos Circus is on tour throughout the UK this year, with an all-new, action-packed Big Top circus performance that will leave you breathless! New to Zippos in 2013 will be Nicky de Neumann and her horses with an exciting new equine presentation, and we welcome back the roaring motorbikes inside The Globe of Death. 

"Hosted by Norman Barrett MBE, ‘the World’s Greatest Ringmaster’, Zippos has received four-star reviews in the national Press, and was voted Britain’s Best Circus!"

• ‘Heartstoppingly good fun’ Time Out
• 'You feel like an awestruck child’ The Guardian
• ‘One of the most thrilling circus acts I have ever seen' The Daily Express
• ‘Zippos makes Cirque du Soleil look wimpish’ Daily Telegraph

---

Link to HOME (see all posts).

"Boom and bust: how property markets are faring around the world"

Hammerson's rejected Brent Cross proposal, on extended Welsh Harp
Link to The Observer

"... Then there's London. The contrast with the rest of the UK has never been more stark. Prices in some outer boroughs are below their peak, but in wealthier central districts, the crash never happened. 

"In Kensington and Chelsea, the average home now costs £1.08m, up 13% during 2012, and £330,000 ahead of 2007.

"Meanwhile, tenants have never had it so bad. Young adults and families unable to afford huge the huge deposits demanded by lenders have turned to the private rental market, where rents have climbed, even as average pay has stagnated."

Private Eye: "A Local Authority selling Public Property to a Developer for a Song" (Should be of use to the London Borough of Barnet, then)

"How the Heygate estate at Elephant & Castle
was sold to Lend Lease for a song"
Link to 'Private Eye' (lengthy PDF)

Er, that's all.

"Top tips: creating places where people want to live"

"Our panel of experts share their advice on how to design places that people are proud to be part of" [unlike Hammerson, then]

Link to 'The Future of Housing'
(The Guardian)

Grainia Long is chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing

Consultation problems:
"There's lots of research to show that individuals place massive value on being involved in shaping the built environment."

Mike Donaldson is group director of strategy and operations at L&Q

Good places are not just nice homes:
"Many towns and much of outer London could redevelop at much higher densities, which would support improved facilities and public transport."

Sophia de Sousa is chief executive of the Glass-House Community Led Design charity

Options for life:
"We need to build in flexibile housing that bring people through different stages of the life cycle."

Ed Warrick is assistant development director at Affinity Sutton

Biggest risk:
"The reduction of affordable housing section 106 obligations on private developers removes the least risky, quickest, and most certain way of delivering some of the best affordable homes."

David Waterhouse is head of programmes for the Cabe team at the Design Council

Make yourself heard:
"We have seen the disaster of short-term knee-jerk reactions in the past on housing delivery and standards."

Sara Cunningham leads on neighbourhood investment and social value at the National Housing Federation

Design standards:
"There is an issue with the raft of differing design standards across the housebuilding industry."

Erika Rushton is director for regeneration at Plus Dane Group

Is the planning process worth engaging in?
"I spent many nights watching residents be consulted on planning applications that they, in reality, had little or no say about."

Tim Edwards is head of regeneration at the Aspire Group

Social return on investment:
"Too much emphasis is placed on the physical aspects of regeneration rather than the social aspects."

Alan Yates is director of regeneration at the Accord Group

What activities do we undertake in our homes?
"With modern technology we can revert back to the home being the place where we live, work and learn."

Darrin Gamble is head of neighbourhoods at Bromford Housing Group

The design and build quality are the basics:
"Very important ones – but they are just the starting point. It's the people that make a community."

Rebecca Roberts-Hughes is policy manager at the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba)

People tell us that new homes lack character:
"One way to overcome this is through community involvement in the design process."

Lisa Culhane is group head of development and regeneration at Asra Housing Group

Trapping residents:
"There is a danger that we trap residents for generations because of the poor local offers in terms of schools and employment prospects."

John Giesen is chief executive at B3Living

Great places to live are made great by the people:
"It is important that people believe their views will be listened to, and that there is a point to being involved."

This live discussion was designed and managed by the
Guardian Housing Network
to a brief agreed with L&Q, sponsor of our
Future of housing hub

GLA Tory Group: "Add mobile signal to the tube"

Link to report (PDF file)

"London’s Underground is missing out on one the most important modern technologies: mobile communication.

"The Underground facilitates no voice or SMS communications and recent steps to add Wi-Fi to 92 of the 260 stations, and not the tunnels, are not enough to reap the benefits of a full communications network. The technology to have a full network exists and many other cities are using it now.

"London is missing out on the many benefits a mobile communications system provides and may be losing out on much more. Transport for London (TfL) could connect the Tube with voice, SMS and modern 4G data, with minimized delay and at a low cost to Londoners."

---

Hammerson expects 26% retail growth in nine years (No, really)

MAJOR* NEW REPORT REVEALS

‘AGE OF CONSIDERED CONSUMPTION’

• Sales growth to accelerate over next decade
• Overall store numbers to fall, but those which remain to be more important than ever
• The rise of smartphones and an ageing population will drive faster retail sales growth over the next decade, but only those retailers which succeed in remaining relevant for tomorrow’s consumer will benefit.

* [Well, they would say that, wouldn't they?]

"That’s the finding ['Those are the findings'...?] of a new report The Reshaping of Retail produced by respected retail consultant Conlumino, on behalf of leading retail property company Hammerson.

The report expects average annual growth in retail spending of 2.4% between 2013 and 2022, an improvement of the 1.9% achieved over the past decade. By 2022, retail spending will have reached £377bn, up 26% on current levels.

However, the rate of spending growth remains well down on that achieved through the 1980s and 1990s, and retailers will need to be on top of their game to thrive in what the report calls the age of ‘Considered Consumption’ over the decade ahead.

KEY FINDINGS:

• Consumer mindset to shift from ‘Careless Consumption’ to ‘Considered Consumption’
• Considered Consumption is an emerging mindset for shoppers, which is less impulse driven and more about selective purchasing
• Retail spend will be up 26% to £377bn by 2022 as discretionary spend is expected to rise
• The over 55s are expected to contribute towards 62% of retail growth (£46.7bn) by 2022
• By next year, 69% of consumers expected to use three or more channels to shop
• By 2020, mobile spend is set to be £53.9bn of direct and indirect sales, comparing to £2.9bn today
• 59% of consumers currently shop using click and collect
• Overall store numbers expected to decline by 10% by 2020
• The role of the store will still remain key, with a greater share of retail sales informed by online research.
[That's enough key findings.]

Hammerson Chief Executive David Atkins said:

"Considered consumption reflects a consumer who is less concerned with the pure acquisition of products, and thinks more about what they are buying. It makes it vital for retailers to have a strong, differentiated brand, offer 'must have' products, and engage more frequently with their customers to give them a reason to visit their stores”

"With an ageing population, much of the growth will be driven by older shoppers, meaning the over-55s will contribute nearly two-thirds of retail growth over the next decade.

"The report also predicts that mobile devices will account for over a quarter of retail sales by 2020 - some £54bn - partly through direct sales and partly through customers using their devices to research purchases in store or on the move. 

"While stores will retain a vital role, overall store numbers in the UK will decline by 10.3%. [We like the "point 3".]

"Increasingly, retailers will focus their expansion towards

major cities

and

destination shopping centres

[can't think where] which offer larger stores, good accessibility and a better choice of restaurants and cafés. 

"Stores will have to evolve, with their role in highlighting brand awareness, showcasing product offers and facilitating click and collect purchases growing in importance.

Neil Saunders, Managing Director, Conlumino said:

“Hammerson’s report reveals that Britain needs to rewrite the retail rules. Retailers must differentiate their ranges, engage more frequently with consumers and adapt their business model to a slower growth environment if they are to inspire, excite and compel shoppers in an era where consumers are calling the shots.”

David Atkins concluded:

“While such dramatic change in retail will inevitably present challenges to some, there is also a huge opportunity for those retailers which anticipate and meet the changing needs of customers.”

---

---

Link to the (major) report (PDF)

TfL policy direction: Making many London roundabouts 20mph, to protect cyclists and pedestrians?

Link to 'Two Wheels Good' web site

"A 20mph speed limit for Waterloo Roundabout and approach roads might not sound like much, but it is actually, in my opinion, rather momentous.

"This is a (unique) example of Transport for London prioritising the safety of the 5,500 cyclists that use this roundabout every weekday, over the motorists, who [will] see a decline in the average speed of 34mph on the Waterloo Bridge and Stamford Street approaches.

"Time and again, good infrastructure for cyclists has not been implemented in London, because TfL is afraid to curb the excessive speed of London's motor traffic. The politics of road use are far more important, in deciding the quality of cycle infrastructure that we have in London, than either funding or expertise (though of course, we still have much to learn from Dutch and Danish town planners)."

IFS: "Departmental spending down, public sector employment down faster"

Link to the fully monty

"Current spending plans imply an average cut in public service spending of

one third

across unprotected Whitehall departments – i.e. all excluding health, schools and overseas aid – by 2017–18. If the defence equipment budget were to be added to the list of protected areas, then spending in unprotected areas would need to fall by

around 35%.

"Over this parliament, departments are planning to cut pay bills quicker than other forms of spending, and so far, they are doing it through

reducing employment

much more than through real pay cuts.

"This means that public sector jobs look likely to be cut faster than implied by Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts. If departments continue to cut their pay bills beyond 2014–15 at the rate they are currently planning, then public sector employment would

fall by 1.2 million

by 2017–18, rather than by 900,000 as the OBR forecasts.

"Avoiding such deep cuts to public services, whilst sticking to fiscal plans, would require

substantial and additional cuts

in social security spending; or

tax rises

would need to be implemented.

"Over the last 30 years, tax rises announced in the year after a general election have averaged £7.5 billion. Considering this trend, and in the context of the current fiscal situation, further tax rises following the next election would not be surprising."

(Formatting added!)

---

The Guardian:
"UK deficit reduction will need big tax
rises after next election, experts warn"

"Britain's leading experts on public finances have warned
of hefty tax increases in the first budget after the 2015 election
as the next government seeks to repair a £64bn deficit
caused by a stuttering economy."

"Minister acts to speed up Portas Pilots high street revamp"

Mary Portas
Link to The Guardian

"Mark Prisk, local growth minister, [is chairing] the Future High Streets Forum (BBC report) which includes representatives from John Lewis, the Association of Town & City Management, and the Association of Convenience Stores.

Prisk is telling the meeting of the 27 so-called 'Portas Pilots' in Loughborough today that:

"It is clear that our high streets will need to change to prosper. There is already great work being done across the country to revitalise the town centres, but it needs to spread further, faster."

"Future’s bright for London’s lighthouse" (but Brent Cross's Hammerson is holed, and taking on water). [That's enough nautical analogies.]

Heave to, and board the Evening Standard 
[good grief]

"London’s very own lighthouse at King’s Cross is about to get a spruce-up, at the hands of developer Nick Capstick-Dale’s UK Real Estate. Most historians think the 1875 landmark was built as an elaborate advertisement for Netten’s Oyster Bar, which occupied the ground floor when oysters were much less of a delicacy.

"When a fresh batch was delivered, the beacon would flash to attract customers. Capstick-Dale is planning offices and shops on the site, but will keep the listed exterior."

Brent Cross's Hammerson, and Westfield's er, Westfield, jointly develop 'Westfield Croydon'

(Croydon Advertiser)

Woof, woof.

Not if you want to avoid corruption, they can't

(Croydon Advertiser)

(Croydon Guardian)

[Reposted from July 2012 - avoiding corruption] Questions to the Mayor: Croydon - Brent Cross Stitch-Up: "Not Us, Gov!"

Brent Cross Shopping centre (1)

Question No: 1951 / 2012

Caroline Pidgeon

What discussions have you, the Deputy Mayor for Planning or any other GLA officer had with Hammerson, Westfield, the Whitgift Foundation, Gavin Barwell MP or any other parties about the potential relaxation of planning conditions at Brent Cross Shopping Centre?

Written response from the Mayor

As I have set out before, I am committed to delivery of the wider regeneration benefits at Brent Cross and Cricklewood as set out in my London Plan. The Deputy Mayor and my planning officers have discussed how this might be delivered with Hammerson who own and operate Brent Cross. I am not aware of any meetings with Westfield, the Whitgift Foundation and Gavin Barwell to discuss planning conditions at Brent Cross.

*

Brent Cross Shopping Centre (2)

Question No: 1952 / 2012

Caroline Pidgeon

Do you agree that it would be wholly improper to link discussions about the Brent Cross Shopping Centre with discussions about proposed developments in Croydon Town Centre (notwithstanding the fact that the same developer has interests in both locations)?

Written response from the Mayor

It is not uncommon to discuss multiple sites with landowners. Any consideration of developments in either location would of course be done in the context of my London Plan.

*

Croydon Town Centre

Question No: 1953 / 2012

Caroline Pidgeon

According to the Croydon Advertiser you were due to meet the local MP Gavin Barwell to discuss the regeneration of Croydon Town Centre in June. What was discussed at this meeting, what will be the results of this meeting and will you publish the agenda and notes of the meeting?

Written response from the Mayor

The meeting referred to in the Croydon Advertiser did not take place but I and my team are in regular contact with Gavin Barwell MP, as well as councillors and senior officers at LB Croydon, as we work together on regeneration plans for the town centre.

Terry Farrell: on the London housing crisis

Link to Evening Standard

"There are lots of myths and misconceptions about many big ideas. 

"With housing, there is the idea that planning and land availability are the biggest barriers. That’s just not true. Planners give consent for lots of things, which then get stalled because of fear of the market.

"There are a lot of developers sitting on their hands because of uncertainty over the market. I got planning for 10,000 homes in Greenwich Peninsula, for example, and for 1,000 in Chelsea. So that proves it isn’t lack of land, or a planning problem. There must be huge other factors.

"If houses are needed on one side, and planning has been granted on the other, then what’s in the middle, stopping it? It must be to do with finance.

"Finance, and a muddled marketplace."

Join our debate:
The Future of London's Property Market
20 March, 6.45pm until 8pm
Emmanuel Centre, Westminster

Free tickets available from: standardevents.co.uk/housing

New light-rail station in Brent Cross shopping centre makeover ("Alight for John Lewis")

(Source)

"The winners of the MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Awards have been announced. These awards uniquely celebrate un-built or incomplete design projects, and are intended to showcase fine architecture and creativity, and the response to the client development brief."
(Daily Telegraph)

---

Link to:

"Despite quick-profit horizons of the developers, it was decided a justified transport solution for Brent Cross's expansion was light-rail"

Bike Biz: "Build it and they will come, Get Britain Cycling inquiry is told"

Link to Bike Biz web site

(photo:CTC)

"The All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group inquiry is now on its third session, with three more to come. The two-hour evidence gathering sessions were held in committee room 13 in the House of Commons. Today's session was about cycling infrastructure and urban design.

"Witnesses from cycling and pedestrian groups, universities, urban design and transport organisations presented evidence on segregation, junctions, signage, cycle parking, road maintenance, urban design, traffic calming and speed limits.

"... Secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group, Lord Berkeley [centre, above], said:

"Any cyclist using many of today’s roads will know that cycling is often seen as an afterthought, rather than being considered when roads are planned. In order to get Britain on bikes, we need to first change the environment to make it more appealing.

This demands a concerted effort from government, local authorities and planners to ensure our roads are fit for purpose for all road users."

---

Link to web site

Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC):
"Planning and design for cycling scrutinised by MPs and Peers"

"Fabian Hamilton, MP for Leeds North East, who had cycled from Leeds to the Netherlands in 2012, felt we should simply copy what had been achieved there.

"Mark Ames agreed, suggesting that a big part of the problem lay with the guidance documents set by the Government, and the skills of the engineers who design projects.

"Gerhard Weiss from LCC, explained that the 'Love London, Go Dutch' campaign, aimed to copy the Dutch approach of giving cyclists priority: cycle paths aren't there to "get cyclists out of the way", but to allow cyclists to gain advantage over other users.

"However, even basic ideas, such as giving cyclists priority over side roads, or low-level traffic lights for cyclists, which are common in the Netherlands or Germany, are incredibly rare in Britain."

---

“Our weather is such that for at least one quarter
of the year we must cycle at home or not at all,”
stated a correspondent to the short-lived
The Rambler weekly cycling magazine in 1897

Link to: RoadsWereNotBuiltForCars

Evening Standard: "Elephant and Castle estate revamp ‘ripped off taxpayers’"

Link to web site

"Critics of the £1.5 billion regeneration of Elephant and Castle claim secret documents prove local taxpayers have been 'ripped off'.

They spoke out after reading a confidential agreement between developer Lend Lease and Southwark council that was not redacted properly.

"They say the document reveals that the council spent £44 million on emptying the Heygate estate at the heart of the regeneration scheme — but will only receive £50 million from Lend Lease for the 22-acre site. Other costs to the council would leave it out of pocket."

Boris on Housing: "This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning"

• Boris wants stamp duty cash to build homes to avoid crisis
• He warns London is in urgent need of 1m more homes in next 25 years
• Boris: "Give us the tools and we'll get on with the job"

Link to Evening Standard
or hear Boris's speech

"Boris Johnson today called on the Treasury to hand over £1.3 billion a year in London stamp duty receipts to fund a massive house-building programme in the capital.

"The Mayor wants to wrest control of tax revenues from property sales from George Osborne, to address a chronic lack of affordable housing. He warns that London faces a housing crisis, unless one million homes are built in 25 years."

[Reposted from Jan 2012] Andy Travers Goes Up To Town

On 9 September 2011, London Councils hosted a workshop to examine the options available to London boroughs seeking to finance economic development and regeneration. It follows on from the publication of the London Councils report 'Investing in London'.

"With central government funding for regeneration having virtually ceased, and the costs of borrowing from the Public Works and Loans board rising significantly, London boroughs face increasing difficulty in securing funding to support large scale economic development/regeneration.

"It is clear that the private sector is going to play a much wider part in financing regeneration projects. [And in some cases, like Barnet, the local authority will cede all democratic control.]

"The workshop looked to furnish borough officers with information on the various tools through which economic development can be financed, what is likely to attract investors and developers into partnerships with boroughs, and the safeguards that both borough treasurers and private investors will want in place. [Barnet wants safeguards?]

The event was chaired by Andrew Travers, Deputy Chief Executive of Barnet Council [working on a £1000-a-day contract - see Famous Five Barnet bloggers] and ppresentations [sic] were made by:

• Andrew Hume, lead Director of the Regeneration team at Jones Lang LaSalle
• Jon Rowney, Head of Fair Funding, London Councils
• Jonathan Guthrie, lead on Investment Promotion, City of Edinburgh Council
• Pierre-Emmanuel Noel,  Senior Loan Officer for UK public sector lending, The European Investment Bank
• David Rose, Vice President, Infrastructure Finance, RBC Capital Markets.

---

Andrew Travers, London Borough of Barnet, opened the workshop with a succinct statement -

"The money has run out..."

"With central government funding for regeneration having virtually ceased, and the costs of borrowing from the Public Works and Loans Board rising significantly, London boroughs face increasing difficulty in securing finance to support large-scale economic development/regeneration.

Link to documents

"Nor is there any indication that government funding or capitalisation will return to previous levels within the foreseeable future, and, whilst there are important programmes and policies in the pipeline (New Homes Bonus, HRA self financing proposals, Business Rate retention, TIFs, etc.), boroughs will need to take a broad view, and it is clear that the private sector is going to play a much wider part in financing regeneration projects.

"The next question to be asked is whether the government and the boroughs are up to the challenge. [Especially in Barnet!] The government needs to give local authorities the freedoms and flexibilities to be innovative, and the boroughs must be ready to explore all options, including working collaboratively with the GLA and/or with subregional partners." [Don't expect help from Brent, Harrow, Camden, ... !]