2010-10-30
Assembly Member for Brent & Harrow condemns Barnet's decision
Brent Cross Cricklewood Project: What a letdown!
The flawed application for Brent Cross Cricklewood should never have been approved.
2010-10-29
Barnet Council wimps out of a BXC press release (Keep looking, maybe eventually...)
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| STOP PRESS - It is there now! |
'BXC Coalition' rushes out brief opposition statement (small but perfectly formed)
THE Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood Plan deplores yesterday’s decision by a single unelected official at Barnet Council to approve the fundamentally-flawed planning application.
2010-10-28
Ham and High articles and letters, and Barnet Times letters
(Below: Loss of North London Waste Authority PFI finance, from Camden's point of view, and Barnet Hard Times. Right: Meet the journalists! Thursday 4 November. Letters to: editorial@hamhigh.co.uk)
2010-10-27
Another Bestway missive wings its merry way to Barnet Planning
BXC planning application C/17559/09 Brent Cross Cricklewood
WE write further to our earlier correspondence, and in the absence of any detailed response from the Council and/or the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) which provides a definitive view on the nature of waste requirements at the [Bestway] Geron Way, Brent Cross site.
You will, no doubt, have been made aware of the developments which have taken place in the last 24 hours, namely the withdrawal of the PFI funds, which the NLWA were relying on to deliver a replacement waste facility. The withdrawal of this funding begs the question whether there was such a compelling need for the NLWA’s waste proposals.
Hammerson: "The planning approval is excellent news for shoppers looking for a stimulating shopping experience."
Not to worry - that was about Glasgow!
More locally, we imagine:
More locally, we imagine:
"Jonny - Get all the cliches ready for Brent Cross, will you? You know the sort of thing, we've used them before: 'Exciting future', 'This is good news for London', 'Plenty of hard work still ahead of us'.
"Oh, and add a new one: 'Excellent news for shoppers looking for a stimulating shopping experience'. Yes, I like that one. Use it, will you?"
2010-10-26
The Guardian: "Barnet's 'easyCouncil' finds it hard to cut with £1.5m spent, £1.4m saved"
This story is on today's front page!
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| The Guardian |
"It was billed as Britain's first "easyCouncil", a flagship for the government's town hall spending cuts and a model of no-frills prudence. But it has emerged that the London borough of Barnet is spending more trying to find efficiencies than it is actually saving."
Evening Standard: "Enormous isn't best"
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| Evening Standard: Simon Jenkins |
"... The answer is London neighbourhood councils and neighbourhood mayors. Since there is no way the ever bigger boroughs will tolerate such insubordination, it will take a tough government to demand it. I doubt if that means Mr Pickles."
Defra: "The offer to support PFI Grant funding for North London Waste Authority is withdrawn."
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| Link to the squasher |
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| Link to the squashed |
(We make that last bit up.)
Link to response of Bestway.
Later post about DEFRA withdrawal of PFI funding
BBC: "Coalition approves 16 road and bus improvement schemes"
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| Click above for BBC News |
"Transport is vital to securing the UK's long term prosperity. That is why these schemes are so important, and why I will continue to argue for investment which delivers long-term benefits for both the travelling public and the economy as a whole."
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| From the horse's mouth |
So what is this 'Brent Cross Railway' – sorry, 'North and West London Light Railway' – malarkey?
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| Definition of 'Light Rail' (or 'CHEAPER RAIL') |
2010-10-25
PlanningMag: " 'Private Space' in Large Developments like Brent Cross Cricklewood"
(Published 19 October 2010)
Light-rail and public transport debate - "It's our political culture that's to blame"
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| Click above to read (and contribute to) thread |
Government launches 'National Infrastructure Plan'
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| Link to announcement |
"The Prime Minister today announced the publication of the UK’s first ever infrastructure plan, identifying the scale of the infrastructure challenge, and the major economic investment that is needed to underpin sustainable growth in the UK over the coming decades.
"The role of the Government is clear. It is to specify what infrastructure we need, identify the key barriers to achieving that investment, and to mobilise the resources, both public and private, to make it happen."
"The role of the Government is clear. It is to specify what infrastructure we need, identify the key barriers to achieving that investment, and to mobilise the resources, both public and private, to make it happen."
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| Link to Daily Telegraph CBI report |
"David Cameron promises 'new economic dynamism'.
"The Government's infrastructure plan, published today, is to 'completely update and modernise our infrastructure, so British business is free to compete with the rest of the world'".
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| "The White Hot Heat of the Technological Revolution" |
2010-10-23
Guardian Book Review: " 'Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain', by Owen Hatherley"
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| Click on Manchester photo for The Guardian's review, and for purchase details |
"... In Hatherley's addictive illustrated travelogue, we encounter "cramped speculative blocks marketed as 'luxury flats'", "pointless piazzas with attendant branches of Costa Coffee", the "Disneyfication" of museums, "class cleansing" disguised as urban regeneration, and, everywhere, a glass‑and-steel contemporary building style that he calls "Pseudomodernism".
"NEAR the end of this angry, melancholy book, the author visits the Greenwich Dome. But now, instead of the green, inclusive, continental-style new city quarter Labour supporters might have hoped for, he finds:
'a transplant of America at its worst – gated communities, entertainment hangars and malls criss-crossed by carbon-spewing roads; a vision of a [British] future – alienated, blankly consumerist, class-ridden.' "
(Click picture for Verso Books web site)
New cycling strategy report, for immediately to the west of Brent Cross Cricklewood
"The study investigates the potential advantages and disadvantages of creating new cyclists in hard to reach groups, or encouraging existing cyclists to cycle more often.
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| Link to Coalition member 'Brent Cyclists' (the report is a large file) |
2010-10-22
2010-10-21
Coalition briefing note
West London conference: "Orbital transport must be improved"
"The West London Transport Plan will focus on orbital transport improvements when it is published in November."
2010-10-20
Telegraph: "The Department for Transport will have an annual budget of £12 bn - down from £12.8 bn."
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| Click for Daily Telegraph |
"The Transport Select Committee said the Department ... was still found wanting when it came to devising a long term strategy to deal with congestion, with traffic still expected to rise dramatically. A long-promised integrated transport policy was yet to be delivered."
'Barnet Eye' blog on LONDON LIVE: "Brent Cross Redevelopment Alert: Find out just how marvellous the extra 27,000 cars will be"
Thursday 21 October:
Register for free!
(including: "3.30pm Webinar - A revolution in the suburbs: a closer look at the outer boroughs" [Barnet in particular!])
Coalition cutbacks - transport investment partly retained
Blogger report:
Newspaper report:
- £30bn will be invested over the next four years, says Mr Osborne. This includes £14bn on new rail maintenance projects
- The chancellor paves the way for rail ticket price increases by lifting the cap on regulated fares to RPI plus 3% for the three years from 2012. This, he says, will help pay for new rolling stock and improved passenger conditions
- 7.1% drop in funding to councils, less than oringinally expected which should be good news for some local transport schemes.
Newspaper report:
"London emerged as one of the winners of today's spending review but Boris Johnson warned it would still have to bear its share of the pain.
"The capital won funding for key capital projects, including Tube upgrades and Crossrail, but will have to tighten its belt elsewhere."
Barnet Residents' Forums (no tea and biscuits)
The next Residents' Forums dates have been announced:
Chipping Barnet: 27th October 2010, 6.30pm East Barnet School
contact pauline.bagley@barnet.gov.uk
Finchley & Golders Green: 19th October 2010, 6.30pm Avenue House N3
contact stephanie.chaikin@barnet.gov.uk
Hendon: 21st October 2010, 6.30pm, Barnet Multicultural Community Centre, Algernon Rd NW4,
contact paul.frost@barnet.gov.uk
If you live in Barnet, you are represented by one of these three forums.
2010-10-19
Brent Cross: 'Dialogue with the deaf.' The City: 'It's good to talk.'
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| Click for Evening Standard |
"London's skyline is to gain a striking new addition after developers agreed to go ahead with the 160-metre “Walkie-Talkie” tower in the City today."
Bestway to Barnet: 'Your reply is underwhelming'
To: Barnet Planning
From: Contour Planning Services (on behalf of Bestway, local business and land owner)
Thank you for your response to my letter dated 6th October (and Bestway’s letter dated 8th October).
From: Contour Planning Services (on behalf of Bestway, local business and land owner)
Thank you for your response to my letter dated 6th October (and Bestway’s letter dated 8th October).
London Communications Agency - reward for effort at PRWeek Awards 2010? Frying Tonite!
2010-10-18
Regeneration & Renewal: "Shopping centre development activity remains 'subdued' "
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| Link to R&R web site (and details on how to subscribe) |
2010-10-13
London Development Agency: June 2010 Jumping The Gun
"Development will not solely focus on delivering jobs and homes, but also on improving the accessibility, environmental sustainability, and open space credentials of Brent Cross Cricklewood.
"New cycle, pedestrian and road links will bridge the physical barriers, and improve the existing connections of Brent Cross Cricklewood to both its neighbouring communities and the rest of London."
Oh, yeah?
Barnet's December 2009 Queries about the London Borough of Brent
From [Major Developments Manager, Barnet]:
Please find attached a letter from Brent, sent in response to a complaint by one of their councillors (who spoke at the committee) that officers reported that Brent no longer objected.
Please find attached a letter from Brent, sent in response to a complaint by one of their councillors (who spoke at the committee) that officers reported that Brent no longer objected.
'Greenfeed Aggregator' (no, it's not something to put on your garden)
"Barnet Council has been given an ultimatum of the likelihood of impending legal action by a major local company, who fear the loss of their successful business to a massive waste dump."
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