Guardian Book Review: " 'Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain', by Owen Hatherley"

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




Link to Coalition member 'Brent Cyclists' (the report is a large file)

  "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.

Guardian blog: "Boris Johnson on the London cuts"

Evening Standard: "City Hall shock as Treasury pulls plug on London Development Agency's £480m development fund"

Click above for Evening Standard

Coalition briefing note

It's not new, but it was a bit lost, down the bottom of the right-hand column ...

People's Question Time, Camden, 2 November - Brian Coleman as well!

Boris speaks on the Comprehensive Spending Review

LookWest News: "Barnet - North or West London?"

Click for details

See a later Local Enterprise Partnership item here.

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."

Welcome back Radian6 visitors

Telegraph: "The Department for Transport will have an annual budget of £12 bn - down from £12.8 bn."

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:

• £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)

LINK TO LIST OF LATER MEETINGS

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.

Information from Broken Barnet.

London Communications Agency thought to be bitterly disappointed at failing to win a Brent Cross award at the PRWeek 2010 bash last night

Brent Cross: 'Dialogue with the deaf.' The City: 'It's good to talk.'

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).

London Communications Agency - reward for effort at PRWeek Awards 2010? Frying Tonite!

Awards Night: Tuesday 19 October 2010, Grosvenor House.

Regeneration & Renewal: "Shopping centre development activity remains 'subdued' "

Link to R&R web site (and details on how to subscribe)

Willesden & Brent Times, the Ham & High, and Barnet Times

Next

Previous

Send the Willesden and Brent Times a letter!

---

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.

'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."

Hammerson-toobusymakingmoneytobotherdevisingadecentscheme-nottomentionconsultingpeopleinameaningfulway.COM

Click above for The Guardian

A disgruntled passenger who set up a website called I Hate Ryanair to share travel "horror stories" has been ordered to hand over the domain name to the low-cost airline he loathes.

Despite the fiery reputation of Michael O'Leary, the Ryanair boss, who has called the Irish PM a "gobshite", the airline was stung by the criticism and lodged a complaint in April, branding the website "vitriolic and highly disparaging".

Planning Resource: "Legal action threat over Brent Cross CPO"

Boris: Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Strategy (Consultation until 5 January 2011)

Click above for 'Executive Summary'



Hard Times Ahead for PR Industry?

Click above for Evening Standard, from August (just noticed!)

"A string of of London councils, the Metropolitan Police and other agencies came under fire from ministers today, after it emerged that they had spent millions on lobbying firms."

'North London Waste Plan' report

This report is not new, but documents the NLWP's views on Brent Cross. One significant section is reprinted here.

 Key issue:   Should the Edgware Rd/Geron Way site remain in the Plan?
Explanation: A significant number of respondents objected to the inclusion of this site in the Plan because of the impact on the existing commercial operations on the site, the potential impacts of waste operations on the housing and primary school across Edgware Road from the site, and the potential impacts on traffic in the area.
Initial NLWP response: We will consider whether this site remains in the Plan in the light of the issues raised relating to site ownership, site assessment scores, site boundary issues, local impacts and the recent outline planning permission for the Brent Cross Cricklewood Development. This decision will also be made in the context of a wider review of the overall need for sites in the light of the new waste projections which have been announced by the Mayor since the draft Plan was published.

 Key issue:   If the Edgware Rd/Geron Way site remains in the Plan, does it require a different status to the other sites?
Explanation: The Brent Cross Cricklewood Development partners argued that the Edgware Road/Geron Way site should be treated differently to other potential new sites since the use of the site as a waste facility now has outline planning permission as part of the Brent Cross Cricklewood redevelopment proposals.

  (Oh no, it doesn't!)  

Initial NLWP response: If the site remains in the Plan, and if the main function of identifying this site is as a replacement site for the Hendon transfer station, we will consider the merit of moving Edgware Road/Geron Way into a separate site schedule so that there does not need to be additional compensation by another site if it was developed.

Click on the picture to link to the complete document.
(Be warned: unless you are lucky, the download is very slow, since the NLWP web site appears to only have the computing power of a Sinclair ZX80.)

---

The Brent Cross Coalition is working with campaigners who want to stop another domestic waste incinerator at Friern Barnet, located further east along the North Circular Road, on the border of Barnet and Haringey. See a related information web site.

PRWeek Awards contender London Communications Agency: last day for job application!

LCA are currently looking to recruit a new account executive.

Closing date: today!

(Glad to be of service.)

UKWIN has produced a substantial response to Defra’s call for evidence to inform the UK Government’s review of waste policies



(Click above for link)

"Incineration diverts resources from recycling, and diverts biogenic resources from composting and effective energy recovery via anaerobic digestion. The installation of incinerators, which are inherently energy inefficient, produce toxic emissions and massive quantities of CO2e, and do not save on greenhouse gas emissions, should cease forthwith, and pending the achievement of zero waste, inert non-recyclables should be put to landfill.

"...Working with local communities leads to both better decision making and a greater sense of ownership, helping to avoid lengthy and costly conflicts between communities, local authorities and waste companies regarding proposed waste facilities. Conversely, civil society in general and local communities in particular are alienated when incinerators are imposed against their will.

"Some have expressed experiencing their own local authorities acting as agents for the waste companies, intent on forcing through decisions to build waste incinerators, without due regard for the views of local residents in the vicinity of the proposed developments."

---

Our comment: So it's natural gas for the Brent Cross CHP plant, is it?

And the lawful necessity to close the current Hendon waste transfer site is ... ?

PRWeek Awards 2010: London Communications Agency updated post

The 24th edition of the glittering PRWeek Awards will take place on Tuesday 19 October 2010 at Grosvenor House on London's Park Lane – the home of all the UK’s great awards ceremonies – and is the PR industry’s biggest night of the year.

"And the Winner of the 'PRWeek 2010 Brent Cross Communications Award' is ... (well, could be) ..."

"London Communications Agency (LCA) are [is?] an award-winning specialist consultancy focusing on London and London issues. From the Olympics to swine ‘flu, major transport projects to long-term regeneration schemes, we are experts in communicating change and shaping opinion. [Our emphasis.]

The Observer: "The plans for Stratford promise better times. If only they could be rolled out across Britain"

Link to The Observer

 "Previous plans showed little but massive apartment blocks ... These would have backed on to the existing two- and three-storey houses of surrounding areas like oil tankers next to dinghies. Their true purpose was to pack in as many housing units as possible, to raise money as quickly as possible.

"Architects outside the usual glum ranks of 'masterplanning specialists' have been hired to consider the ways the new development will connect with the existing."



Hammerson and Standard Life: Earlier "Green Light" for Brent Cross development now flickering a little

Evening Standard: "This classical vision for the building of a new city"

How the Olympic Park will look in 2030

(Click above for Evening Standard article, 7 October)

Olympic legacy chief Baroness Ford wants to [help] solve the city's looming housing crisis, and ensure the Games delivers lasting improvements to London.

She wants to build fewer but grander homes, as part of a general scaling-down of the area's housing plan.

Thousands of homes with gardens will be built instead of "soulless" high-rise flats.

---

(Click above for Evening Standard comment, 8 October)

The key change from the 2009 [Stratford] plan is replacing many multi-storey quadrangular blocks with lower-rise terraced housing.

"We want to take the best of London and interpret it for this amazing site."

Caroline Flint to shadow Eric Pickles (it's a big shadow)

"Caroline Flint, who quit the frontbench in protest at Gordon Brown's leadership, makes a comeback as Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, shadowing Eric Pickles."

Mark of an impartial, independent Local Planning Authority

From Director of Planning, Housing & Regeneration
18 November 2009
To Brent Cross Cricklewood team

Well done all tonight. Excellent presentations. Cool, calm, composed and well-presented by whole team.

Rubbish Brent Cross Queries



(Click above for document)

"Contrary to the way in which the matter was presented to the Planning Committee, the [recent statement] represents a fundamental change in approach by the North London Waste Authority, and this change is both unlawful and disturbing, since the development partners have been promoting the waste element of the scheme on the basis that new technologies and processes are required in the new facility.

"This should be a concern to the Council since this is the reason the development partners have been arguing that the existing Hendon Waste Transfer Station is not suitable for upgrading and needs to be relocated. What the NLWA are now saying is that, if they cannot keep the existing Hendon WTS, then they want an identical replacement facility, albeit with a materials recycling facility included.

"This is not the message that has been presented to Members or the public."

---

Reference: Web site of the Friern Barnet waste site campaigners, further east on the North Circular Road, on the border of Barnet and Haringey:




The seven north London boroughs

 

The North London Waste Authority



Willesden and Brent Times

Next

Previous

Tele-screen event

From After Armageddon (published 1932):

"It was on the tele-screen that I viewed the mobs coursing through the streets; via the news-dispenser I listened to the latest tidings from all over the country."

Hurrah! - Barnet is in the Top Thirty Public Bodies in the United Kingdom

Click above for press release

(at failing to answer Freedom of Information Act requests).



'Barnet Eye' blog: Grumbles last June

Click on picture for 'Barnet Eye' blog item:

"Now ask yourself this question (I've helpfully added three potential answers). Why do you think that the developers are keen to build these monstrosities?

1. Because they have a deeply held belief that people enjoy living in concrete jungles?
2. Because they want to live there themselves?
3. Because they'll make tens of millions of quid?"

British Library: "Future City: London and the future: Will we still be a major player in the world in 2050?" - Friday 8 October

Barnet Consults (!) on Local Development Framework - deadline is 25 November 2010

Planning, Housing and Regeneration

London Borough of Barnet

Building 2

North London Business Park

Oakleigh Road South

London N11 1NP

Barnet Acquiesces in More Road Traffic: Learning from History

Click above for 'New Scientist', 1986. (Scroll up one page to start.)

Secretary of State Philip Hammond approves High Speed Two station at Old Oak Common - a new route from Barnet to all-points west and north?

Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond announced today approval of the 'High Speed Two' rail line, with a public inquiry next year. This is believed to include a joint 'High Speed Two' and 'Great Western Main Line / Crossrail' station in west London, at Old Oak Common. 

(Our own Theresa Villiers, Minister of State for Transport, calls this station 'Wormwood Scrubs International'.)

The light-rail proposal, from Finchley Central, across Barnet, to Brent Cross and across neighbouring Brent, might be diverted there (possibly via Willesden Junction station):

More references for this item will be provided.

No, Philip Hammond is no relation of Richard Hammond.

As a stop-gap (without any reference to Old Oak Common), here is a summary of the Secretary of State's statement:

 

The Secretary of State also hob-nobs and name-drops:

"I reject the proposition that we somehow face some kind of stark choice in transport between supporting economic growth and supporting environmental objectives. There is no either/or choice between generating growth and protecting the environment.

"Because neither growth which undermines our environmental agenda, nor environmental measures that stifle economic growth, will be sustainable in the medium term."