The Guardian: "Boris Johnson: brown fields and green elephants"

Link to web site

"Boris Johnson's recent big announcement that he and the government will put £400m into speeding up house building by means of 20 'housing zones' on brownfield sites across the capital should first be considered against the forbidding backdrop of London's housing supply crisis as a whole. Behold, the big announcement suddenly looks quite small.

"Johnson says the 20 zones, which are odds-on to include sites in Enfield, Haringey, Wandsworth, Tower Hamlets and Ealing, will produce 'up to' 50,000 new homes over the next ten years. That's a maximum of 5,000 homes a year promised for the next decade towards Johnson's new target of 42,000 a year, and even 42,000 wouldn't be enough according to the Greater London Authority's (GLA) own estimate of what is needed, which puts the figure at 49,000. Some think even that's too low.

"The £400m too looks less impressive at second glance than first. Johnson has committed to supplying one half of it and chancellor George Osborne the other. The mayor's £200m will come from existing GLA housing funds, and though he says he might allocate sums as grants this will only be considered if getting the money back isn't possible. Osborne's £200m will all be in the form of loans to private sector bodies only, including housing associations. In other words, the great bulk of the £400m will be taken on as debt."

Link to web site

"After the recession: welcome to Britain in the age of insecurity"

"Recessions scar. Years of slump, flatlining and wage-increase-free recovery have bequeathed a sense of unease. Industrial orders are growing, but so is the number of food banks. House prices are on the rise, but so is the number of workers on zero-hours contracts. Welfare reforms mean that more and more people are having their benefits docked. Welcome to Britain in the age of insecurity.

"None of the major parties are much loved. Labour is blamed for the recession; the Conservatives have yet to reap any reward for the return of growth. Government and opposition are suffering a backlash from a squeeze on living standards unprecedented in Britain's postwar history. Between them, Labour and the Conservatives could barely scrape together votes from 50% of those who bothered to turn out in the European elections. Ukip, the Greens and the stay-at-home party were the three big winners.

"Earlier this month I travelled the length of Britain by train to gauge what is happening. Some big themes emerged."

[Reposted] London Communications Agency and the Brent Cross Unsustainable Development Quagmire (before Hammerson clears off, injured)

Talking of Quagmire,
Hammerson Stewie and Standard Life Brian
tackle regeneration...

(Barnet Times)

"Anti-Fascists win Battle of Cricklewood Broadway"

('Wembley Matters' video and text)

"Fifty or so members of the far-right group South East Alliance were brought to a halt on Cricklewood Broadway on Saturday, when local residents and activists occupied the road to stop them proceeding. Despite police lines trying to push them back to clear the road, residents stood firm with a little determined pushing back, and the line held.

"The SEA were ostensibly protesting against what they claimed to be Muslim Brotherhood offices at 113a Cricklewood Broadway (on their Facebook page they called it Cricklewood High Street). In fact the group that previously occupied the offices had been minor sympathisers of the MB and not the MB itself and, as the police have stated, moved out some time ago.

"The police themselves seemed rather confused as they had put up an enclosure outside 119 Cricklewood Broadway and tried to get the anti-fascists to stand there to no avail.

"The SEA was about 50 strong and out-numbered 3:1 by the counter demonstrations. After making short speeches, entirely to themselves, the SEA turned round and heavily escorted by police went back to Kilburn station.

"Residents celebrated what they saw as a victory over attempts to divide a diverse but united community."

[Reposted from Oct 2012] Which Stewie used to be the Big Cheese in Barnet Planning?

'Friendly Guy' or BBC3's 'Family Guy'?
Click on image to find out

Click above to enlarge
 No mention of Barnet
 in 'Planning Magazine' 19/10/2012

---

Continuing the theme, which Brian was also involved in Brent Cross Cricklewood? 

Wed 15 - Fri 17 Oct: MIPIM UK: when Capita tries to get Barnet's grounded projects off the ground (but only by dropping them off a cliff)

Patience -
This should animate!
Even if it doesn't, it's still a link

"MIPIM UK provides the only national forum for property professionals to meet and close deals across all sectors of the property market. Covering office, industrial, residential, retail, healthcare, sports & leisure and student accommodation, MIPIM UK will deliver the opportunities to further your business."

Confirmed exhibitors & sponsors

AECOM • AITCHISON RAFFETY • ARTELIA UK • BASINGSTOKE AND DEANE BOROUGH COUNCIL • BDO • BDP • BRE • BRITISH LAND • BROOKFIELD MULTIPLEX • BUSINESS SOUTH • CAPCO • CAPITA PROPERTY AND INFRASTRUCTURE • CITY OF LONDON CORPORATION • COLLADO COLLINS • COLLEGE OF ESTATE MANAGEMENT • CONCEPT BUSINESS GROUP • COSTAR UK • DERBY - UK CAPITAL FOR INNOVATION • DESIGN INTERNATIONAL • DEVELOP CROYDON • ENGLISH HERITAGE • EUSTON REGENERATION PARTNERSHIP LIMITED • FAREBROTHER • GLOBAL GUARDIANS • GOLDCREST LAND PLC • GUERNSEY INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CENTRE • HERTFORDSHIRE LOCAL ENTERPRISE PARTNERSHIP • HIGH SPEED TWO (HS2 LTD) • HOK • INVEST ASHFIELD & MANSFIELD • INVEST IN NOTTINGHAM • INVEST NORTH EAST ENGLAND • IPIN GLOBAL CAPITAL LIMITED • KPF • LANDMARK CHAMBERS • LEEDS CITY REGION • LEGAL & GENERAL PROPERTY • LEICESTER LEICESTERSHIRE • LONDON BOROUGH OF CROYDON • LONDON BOROUGH OF HAMMERSMITH & FULHAM • LOTHBURY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT • LUTON BOROUGH COUNCIL • MANHATTAN SOFTWARE GROUP LTD • MISHCON DE REYA • NABARRO • NINE ELMS ON THE SOUTH BANK • NJW LIMITED • NORTHAMPTON BOROUGH COUNCIL • OXFORD PROPERTIES GROUP • PINSENT MASONS LLP • PROPLEND • RESIDENTIAL LAND • RICS • ROOMZZZ APARTHOTEL • SCOTTISH CITIES ALLIANCE • SMALL BACK ROOM • THAMES VALLEY BERKSHIRE • THE CITY OF CARDIFF • THE FRACTIONAL OWNERSHIP CONSULTANCY • THE LEADENHALL BUILDING • THOR EQUITIES LLC • TIAA HENDERSON REAL ESTATE LTD • WANDA ONE • YARDI SYSTEMS UK • YOURS SERVICES • ...

Financial Times: Topshop at Brent Cross says "Welcome Home"

---

Daily Mail:
"SIR PHILIP AND HIS WIFE'S CONTROVERSIAL TAX SET-UP"

"Sir Philip Green is the multi-billionaire 'King of the High Street' who commutes to work by private jet from the tax haven of Monaco.

"And his tax affairs were brought into the spotlight in 2010 when he was appointed by David Cameron as a government spending tsar charged with finding Whitehall savings.

"Sir Philip, who left school at 15 to go into business, lives in London hotels during the week.

"But his business empire is mostly owned in the name of his wife Tina (pictured together above), who lives in the tax haven, where Sir Philip spends his weekends. The couple moved there in 1998.

"In the past, he has joked that the vast sums paid into his wife's bank account are 'housekeeping money'.

"This set-up will have saved himself £125million in tax, experts have claimed.

"He remains a UK taxpayer because he spends more than 90 days a year here running his businesses but he ensured that when he bought Bhs in 2000 and Arcadia in 2002, the transactions were in his wife's name.

"Mrs Green has long been Monaco based with their children Brandon and Chloe, meaning she escapes the tax rules for citizens living in the UK.

"There is nothing illegal in the set-up but he arrangement is thought to have saved the couple tens of millions of pounds in tax over the years. He famously paid his family a £1.2billion dividend in 2005. Lady Tina was able to receive the dividend tax-free because she is an official resident of Monaco.

"Asked about his wife's tax status he replied: 'My wife's not a tax exile - my family do not live in the United Kingdom, it's somewhat different.'

"And questioned over whether Britain would benefit from owners of British businesses paying all their taxes in the country, Sir Philip added: 'We do pay all our tax in Britain, I think we have paid over the last five years some £300-400 million in taxes on profits that have been made on our company.

" 'I'm a UK taxpayer, I work here every week, we employ 45,000 people in the UK and we have got a £500 million payroll.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2243875/Topshop-tycoon-Sir-Philip-Green-enjoys-500MILLION-payday-selling-25-stake-High-Street-fashion-chain.html

Evening Standard: "Anthony Hilton: Londoners deserve the property pity"

Link to web site

"... People in the North complain about London sucking up too much of the country’s wealth, but the ordinary people in the capital need all of it — and more. There is no hope of this ever getting any better until we build thousands more new homes.

"There is a seemingly endless debate about the Government’s Help to Buy scheme, and growing pressure on Bank of England Governor Mark Carney to do something to slow down the London house-price surge. Even the International Monetary Fund joined in last week.

"Carney has the power to make mortgages harder to come by. If he does, that might take some of the steam out of the market but all that will do is buy a bit of time.

"People will still need somewhere to live, so it will not solve the problem in the long term and it will have the immediate and adverse consequence of increasing the already heated demand for rented accommodation. Pretending to solve one problem will make another worse."

Thu 26 June: "Local Government Strategic Leaders Forum"

Link to web site above.
Image is from 'We Love Local Government' report

"The Local Government Strategic Leaders Forum, organized by the Capita Conferences, will take place on 26 June 2014 in London, United Kingdom.
[Hurrah!
And there's a LB of Barnet speaker!]

The conference will cover areas like Instigating culture change and encouraging innovation within an effective risk structure, Embedding long-term sustainable local growth and investing in essential infrastructure to encourage inward investment, Extending pooled budgets, integration and shared services to increase efficiency." 
[Nothing but Good can come from this Conference.
Nothing but Good.]

"London’s high-rise future: thrusting, exhilarating, yet strangely insubstantial"

Swoop down to The Guardian web site

"Looking down from the Shard along the lazy s-bend of the Thames, I was privileged by a vision of the future.

"The London of a quarter century hence would, without doubt, be a high-rise city.

"Moreover, it wouldn’t be a high-rise city of the stark 20th-century form taken by so many North American downtowns (not so much row-after-row of Mies van der Rohe as thickets of rectilinear towers) but a distinctively Cockney agglutination of parametrically wave-formed glass, faux-granolithic rendering, suddenly-silvering timber cladding and good old London stock brick.

"The London of the 2040s will be high, certainly – yet it will also be wide: a great sweep of mega-structures spreading from Canary Wharf in the east to Wandsworth Bridge in the west. These behemoths are already thronging on and immediately behind the embankments, with significant clusters of new high rises behind the South Bank, along the riverside between Vauxhall and Battersea, while there’s a general but insidious densification radiating from the City to the West End.

"Londoners are easily transfixed by the new office blocks being built in the City itself: the Cheesegrater and the Walkie-Talkie are joining the Gherkin and the Heron Tower to form a cluster of structures that have a distinctively 21st-century appearance; these are icon-cum-logos, whose forms don’t simply embody financial constraints, but also articulate the symbolic unity of fungible objects and their branding. If Victorian goods were typically exchanged for their utility – the London docks circa 1900 being full of ships unloading such industrial precursors as phosphates, timber and cotton – then our own neo-Elizabethan products accrue value mostly because of the labels attached to them."

Nicky Gavron: "In anticipation of tomorrow’s session on tall buildings, the London Assembly Planning Committee has released a background briefing, outlining the issues that make up this important debate. It explores everything from who these buildings are for, to whether they can be sustainable. 

"You can read the (PDF) note here. 

"The session is open to the public, and takes place on Tuesday 10 June from 10am in City Hall."

Tues 10 June: Nicky Gavron AM: "Planning Committee investigates tall buildings and London’s skyline"

"How will the growing number of tall buildings in London affect where and how we live? Are the Mayor's planning controls enough to manage the impact of tall buildings on the capital's skyline?

"A recent survey by New London Architecture suggests that 236 buildings of more than 20 storys could be on their way with 80% intended to be residential blocks. Almost a fifth are already under construction and around half already have planning approval.

"Next Tuesday, the London Assembly Planning Committee, which I chair, will be looking at why the number of proposed tall buildings is on the rise, whether residential developments will really meet London's housing need and if planning policies are up to the task and being adequately applied in the face of so many tall building applications.

"The Committee will question the following guests:

• Julia Barfield: Managing Director, Marks Barfield Architects (MBA). MBA created the London Eye in 1989. MBA has won more than 60 awards for Design, Innovation and Sustainability.
• Sir Edward Lister: Deputy Mayor for Policy and Planning, GLA. Sir Edward advises the Mayor on strategic planning applications and has oversight of the London Plan.
• Rowan Moore: architecture critic. Rowan trained as an architect but later turned to journalism. He has been editor of the architecture journal Blueprint and has written for the Evening Standard and The Guardian.
• Tony Pidgley CBE: Chairman, Berkeley Group plc. The Berkeley Group has numerous projects for tall residential towers proposed or under construction across London.
• Peter Rees: Professor of Places and City Planning, The Bartlett, UCL. Peter was recently appointed a professorship by UCL, having previously held the role of City Planning Officer at the City Corporation since 1985.
• We will also hear from experts on heritage, architecture, and the environmental implications of tall buildings.

The meeting will take place from 10am on Tuesday, 10 June at City Hall. If you are not able to attend, it will be webcast live.

In the meantime, let me know what you think of tall buildings. Are there any in your neighbourhood that you absolutely hate? Which ones in London do you love, and which do you think don't work as well? What do you like about tall buildings in general, and what do you dislike?

@nickygavron nicky.gavron@london.gov.uk
http://nickygavron.wordpress.com/

Pigs at Brent Cross (And Hammerson has its snout in the trough. Arf, arf.)

MEET PEPPA PIG & FAMILY
FREE tickets available online from Thursday 12 June
and in Brent Cross shopping centre on the day
on a fisrt come [sic] first served basis.

---

WAITROSE BRENT CROSS
Our pig farmers are located predominantly in East Anglia,
where the light, free-draining soil and low rainfall provide
ideal conditions for pig farming.
The result is tender, fine-grained meat,
with just the right amount of fat and plenty of flavour.

"Car trips are bad trips"

"Henry Ford's instrument of democratic liberation has become an oppressive tyrant, imprisoning us"

Link to The Guardian

"... My children regard cars as unnecessary and expensive encumbrances, not the status symbol or romantic attribute they remain for me. Recent US research showed that very few people under 30 considered any automobile manufacturer a 'cool' brand. And those who owned cars would much prefer to keep their smartphone, if required to make a competitive choice between wheeled transport and the electronic type of connectedness.

"But there is poetry as well as pain here. Henry Ford created his gasoline buggy to escape from the deadening tedium of life on a midwest farm. Against all the contrary evidence, cars retain this magical potential to transport the spirit as well as the body. Harley Earl, Detroit's coruscating wizard of kitsch with his repertoire of chrome and pleated Naugahyde, rightly understood that even the meanest car journey should have the intoxicating suggestion of an exotic vacation. It is curious to consider howan instrument of democratic liberation has become an oppressive tyrant, imprisoning us. 

"Roads too have lost their glamour. Movies and rock music glorified some of the world's great roads: Route 66, the Grande Corniche and the Pacific coast highway are part of our collective dreamscape. The delightful and deluded fiction of roads as romance. It is difficult, surely, to experience anything other than terrible bathos on the M25 or the East Lancashire Road."

[Reposted from Nov 2013] Hammerson's Living Bridge over the North Circular Road at Brent Cross: Handy for the shops.

Link to Bloomberg

"With China’s cities set to swallow another 276 million people by 2030, the nation needs a new strategy for municipal planning that brings residential and other land uses closer together with efficient public transport, said Peter Calthorpe, founder of Berkeley-based urban design firm Calthorpe Associates and author of 'Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change'.

"Under the superblock model [or as we call it, the Barnet model], municipal authorities typically build four- to eight-lane highways [A406] to remote suburbs where they can sell building rights to developers on slabs of land about 500 meters square. The construction companies then erect apartment towers on the block separated from the rest of the community by fences and security guards [and the A406].

"Housing, industry and shopping districts are often zoned for different parts of the city, making long commutes the norm."

Why the Brent Cross North Circular Road was turned into a motorway (and the music's very jolly)

Financial Times: "Dawn of a robot revolution as army of machines escape the factory"

Move the piece of the right
into the top of the piece on the left,
to link to web site

"Compared to the size of the industrial robotics market, service robot applications are still somewhat niche. Robot researchers are also wary of overpromising after several false technological dawns in the past.

"Still, rapid advances in a range of technologies, including machine vision, tactile sensors and autonomous navigation, make these robots much more useful and, crucially, ensure they avoid collisions with humans.

"Alin Albu-Schaeffer, director of the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), said:

"Ten years ago it took five minutes for a robot just to recognise the object in front of it was a table. Many aspects of robotics are now reaching a critical mass . . . service robotics is coming."

Planning Resource: "Home Counties warn they cannot meet London's housing shortfall"

Link to web site

"More than 20 councils in the Home Counties have expressed concerns to London mayor Boris Johnson that his key planning document does not meet the capital's level of housing need, warning that a potential overspill from the city could put strains on their local services.

"The fears were raised in response to the Greater London Authority's (GLA's) consultation on the draft Further Alterations to the London Plan (FALP), which sets the capital's ten-year housing target at 42,000 homes a year.

"The councils pointed out that the plan's target falls well short of the annual housing need of 49,000 to 62,000 homes, set out in the GLA's own strategic assessment.

"Many called for the mayor to do more to increase housing supply in the capital and warned of increased pressures on their roads, railways, schools and health services."

---

Link to web site

"Population growth estimates downgraded"

"Official figures that will form the basis of a new set of household projections that councils are expected to use to assess their housing needs predict the population of England will grow at a slower rate over the next 10 years than suggested by interim data published two years ago.

"The 2012-based subnational population projections, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), predict the population of England will grow by 7.2 per cent over the ten years to mid-2022, with London (13.1 per cent), the East of England (8.6 per cent) and the South East (7.8 per cent) experiencing the highest levels of growth.

"But the rate of population growth projected by the new figures is lower than that set out in interim projections published by the ONS in September 2012."

The Guardian: "Labour: let cities grow by lifting the cap on councils' borrowing"

Link to web site

"Existing towns and cities should be expanded and the cap on some councils' borrowing lifted to allow more homes to be built, according to the man responsible for overhauling Labour's housing policy, to ease the chronic shortage.

Sir Michael Lyons told the Guardian he had identified protracted delays in the release of land as the single biggest cause of Britain's housing crisis.

He is minded to recommend a new generation of 'urban extensions', modelled on the post-war new-town expansion, insisting that while communities should have a say in planning, they cannot veto new homes in a time of severe shortage. The expansion of current conurbations, capable of using existing infrastructure, could be built as quickly as new towns, and lead to tens of thousands of new homes, contributing to a target of 200,000 new dwellings a year by 2020."

BBC: "How London should look in the future?"

"Sir Terry Farrell,

Angela Brady,

Nicholas Boys Smith and

Owen Hatherley discuss."

"The Towers Debate: Does London need more tall buildings?"

Link to LSE web site

Editor's note: We apologise for the buzz present on this recording.

Speaker(s): Julia Barfield, Nicholas Boys Smith, Paul Finch, Simon Jenkins, Sir Edward Lister, Rowan Moore, Tony Travers, Nicky Gavron Chair: Sarah Gaventa

Recorded on 2 June 2014 in Peacock Theatre, Portugal Street.

"There are now proposals for over 230 new tall buildings to be built in London over the next decade, 80 per cent of which are residential. As London’s population continues to expand, is this high-rise vision of London's future the right one for our city and its people?

"Kicking off the London Festival of Architecture 2014 programme, Centre for London, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and New London Architecture (NLA) host a public discussion to debate the motion 'London needs many more tall buildings'."

Julia Barfield is director of Mark Barfield Associates.

Nicholas Boys Smith is director of Create Streets.

Paul Finch is programme director of the World Architecture Festival.

Nicky Gavron is chair of the Planning Committee at the London Assembly.

Sarah Gaventa is an associate at RSH+P.

Sir Edward Lister is deputy mayor for Policy and Planning at the GLA.

Simon Jenkins is chairman of the National Trust.

Rowan Moore is architecture critic for The Observer.

Tony Travers is director of LSE London.

Credits: Tom Sturdy (Audio Post-Production), LSE AV Services (Audio Recording)

"Patisserie Valerie is coming to Fenwick Brent Cross!"

"Originally conceived in Frith Street, Soho in 1926 by Madam Valerie, the Fenwick Brent Cross branch will offer a range of treats made using traditional recipes and authentic methods, including favourites such as éclairs, tarts and profiteroles. Alongside the range of cakes and patisserie, the menu also includes continental breakfasts, lunches and the finest teas and coffees.

"Customers with something to celebrate can order one of Patisserie Valerie’s special occasion and celebration cakes, perfect for birthdays, weddings and every occasion in between.

"You'll find Patisserie Valerie in Fenwick on Level 3."

"Many of the Brent Cross's 30+ restaurants, cafes, grab & go bars and supermarkets are now open until 9pm Monday to Saturday; find out more information on Brent Cross's Dine Until 9pm web page!

"We can't wait for the opening to tuck into traditionally French a Tarte aux Framboises and a strong coffee! Are you a Patisserie Valerie fan? Join the conversation online, and don't forget to use #brentcrossmenu [we have!] to show us what you're enjoying at the centre, and check out what everyone else is eating and what's new at our new Menu!"

Instagram: brentcross_sc
Tweet: @brentcross
Facebook: /mybrentcross

Evening Standard: "Housebuilding revival eases fears of property bubble"

Link to web site
(Don't hold your breath - there's only four paragraphs)

"Reviving housebuilding activity should eventually curb the recent surge in property prices and quell fears of a bubble, lender Halifax said today."

Thu 19 June: CPRE: "Is London Liveable?"

Link to web site

Special event to launch 'Towards a Liveable London' report,
19 June 2014, 6 - 8.30pm

"CPRE London will be show casing the recommendations from our year-long research project reviewing London’s housing needs. The Landscape Institute will be launching their new ‘Plandemonium’ animation on landscape and liveability made by Rob Cowan.

"This event takes place during the London Festival of Architecture which is focusing on the topic of capital. We will use the opportunity to look at both natural and social capital – at the heart of a liveable approach to designing and developing the city.

"The presentations will be followed by a Q&A panel debate to try and draw out solutions for London’s current and future housing needs."

Programme

6pm Registration

6.30pm Welcome

6.35pm Rosalie Callway, CPRE London

6.45pm Noel Farrer, Landscape Institute

6.55pm Q&A panel debate

Debate chair: Shaun Spiers, Chief Executive CPRE

Panellists:

• Rebecca Sudworth, Peabody
• Bruce McVean, Beyond Green and Movement for Liveable London founder
• Sophia de Souse, Glass House Community Led Design
• Darren Johnson, Chair of Housing Committee, London Assembly 

7.45pm Reception

8.30pm Close

Book now

Camden Council: Tottenham Court Road video (Barnet and Hammerson haven't even produced a flick-book about Brent Cross)

Published on 3 June 2014

"Camden Council has unveiled a £26 million plan to transform the Tottenham Court Road area of the West End. The aim is to make the area safer and more attractive for residents, boost business and create new public spaces, ahead of the opening of the new Crossrail station in 2018."

Barnet's equivalent technology

Ham & High: "Camden Council left in the dark over ‘Boris tunnel’ plan"

Link to web site

"Camden Council says it has been left in the dark over a £30billion infrastructure scheme that could see tunnelling and major construction carried out throughout the borough and in the heart of Camden Town.

"The Mayor of London’s proposals to build a 22-mile underground ring-road circling London surfaced earlier last month as part of Transport for London’s bid to relieve congestion, reduce pollution and support growth in the city.

"A proposed map of the tunnel's route shows a dual carriageway ring-road running under Camden Town, Highbury, Whitechapel, Elephant and Castle and Chelsea – with one of 10 proposed entrances to be built in Camden Town."

Barnet Bugle: "Mayor of Barnet issues call for his Office to be respected"

"At the end of a loud and raucous Annual Council meeting, in a hot, stuffy and unventilated room, Barnet's newly elected Mayor, Cllr Hugh Rayner, called for opposition Councillors and those in the public gallery to respect his office."

(Link above to the two 'Barnet Bugle' videos)

---

'TheMarathon28' video:

"Councillor Anthony Finn proposed to change a date in the draft council meetings calendar, so that it coincides with the opposition Labour Party conference, resulting in a vote of approval for the change. 

"The opposition Labour group boycotted the traditional all-party buffet after the meeting ended."

---

Link to web site

Barnet Press:
"Councillors clash at ceremonial meeting"

"BARNET'S first full council meeting since the local election descended into anger and recrimination as Labour councillors accused the new Tory administration of sinking to new depths in its 'outrageous' treatment of the democratic process.

"Last night's meeting at Hendon Town Hall, in The Burroughs, had been intended to be largely ceremonial, with the appointment of a new mayor, the agreement of meeting dates, and appointments to the new council committees, to be followed by a celebratory buffet to be attended by former Barnet mayors, community leaders and visiting delegates.

"However, the Conservative administration drew anger in its decision to break with convention in terms of meeting schedules and committee appointments, before introducing an allowance system that strongly favours the ruling party.

"With tensions already high over the agonizingly close-run local election, which saw the Tories hold onto their majority by two seats and more Barnet Labour councillors elected than ever before, newly appointed Conservative Mayor Hugh Rayner had barely taken his seat at the front of the chamber before he was forced to deal with heckles and barracking from opposition councillors and the public gallery."

---

"Barnet Borough Council adopts committee system of governance" 

- Barnet Times

"Barnet Borough Council will make its decisions by committee, rather than having a cabinet in charge.

"... Council leader Councillor Richard Cornelius said:

“We are still only half way through a decade of austerity, and there are many tough spending decisions ahead. However we are committed to dealing with these challenges in as open way as possible."

The committee chairmen [sic] will be as follows:

• Adults and Safeguarding Committee – Cllr Sachin Rajput
• Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee – Cllr Reuben Thompstone
• Environment Committee – Cllr Dean Cohen
• Assets, Regeneration and Growth Committee – Cllr Richard Cornelius
• Community Leadership Committee – Cllr David Longstaff
• Policy and Resources Committee – Cllr Richard Cornelius
• Performance and Contract Management – Cllr Anthony Finn
• Housing Committee – Cllr Tom Davey

PROFORCE 1 SECURITY issues demand to Barnet Bloggers

Evening Standard: "Hamish McCrae: Six thoughts on Piketty’s vexing claims"

Link to web site

"Inequality: what on Earth should we make of the row about the work of Thomas Piketty?

"His 557-page Capital in the Twenty-First Century has become a best-seller, but is now the subject of a hard-hitting attack by Chris Giles, economics editor of the Financial Times, for dodgy statistics, some of which he writes 'appear simply to be constructed out of thin air'?

"On Friday Piketty responded to this in a 4400-word piece on his website, arguing that the FT was 'simply wrong'.

"Piketty, a French economist, argues that inequality has been increasing in the western world for the past 30 years, and that the core reason for this is that returns on capital are higher than those on labour. So people who own capital will get richer faster than those who have to work to earn a living. His remedy is a wealth tax."

Planning Resource: "Portas questions success of town-centre-first policy"

Link to web site

"Retail expert Mary Portas has questioned the effectiveness of the town centre first policy, and said efforts to pilot the recommendations included in her review of high streets were marred initially by 'vague supporting processes' and 'insufficient guidance' by the government.

"... In a 'think piece', Why our High Streets still matter, Portas said government progress following her 2011 review of high streets has been "far slower" than she had hoped.

"She added that 'vague supporting processes' meant 'bumpy starts were the status quo' for most of the 27 pilot schemes that were awarded government funding to trial the review’s recommendations."

[Reposted from Nov 2010] Michael Bear, Regeneration Director at Hammerson (and new Lord Mayor of London) shuns Brent Cross's temporary 'rapid transit bus' for the Lord Mayor's Show 2010

THIRD UPDATE:
"29,000 extra cars"
- see Evening Standard letter, April 2011


SECOND UPDATE:
"The Lord Mayor has a case to answer!" 
 - see newspaper cuttings.

 

FIRST UPDATE: Click above for BBC web site
(no mention of Hammerson)

Camden New Journal: "Green light for Hampstead Heath-style bathing ponds in King's Cross" (Somewhat unikely that Hammeson would do that at Brent Cross)

Dive into the web site

"PLANNING permission has been granted for man-made public bathing ponds to be built in the middle of King's Cross.

"As the New Journal revealed in March, the plans for a vacant plot on the regeneration site behind King's Cross and St Pancras International stations will aim recreate the sensation of swimming in ponds like the waters on Hampstead Heath, which are celebrated for being chemical-free.

"While there are 900 man-made swimming ponds across Europe, the project organisers believe it is the first to be constructed in the United Kingdom."