Private Eye cutting: The same fate for Barnet?

"Decentralisation, Minister?" "A very 'brave' decision, if I may say so, Minister!"

"This guide makes the case for a radical shift of power from the centralised state to local communities, and describes the six essential actions required to deliver decentralisation down through every level of government, to every citizen."

See a later Localism Bill item here.
See an earlier Localism Bill item here.

'Mr Reasonable' blog questions accuracy of Barnet's financial projections

plus he gives other opinions, on officer reports to Monday's Cabinet...

"Actually reading through the list of proposed cuts is tragic. It appears to be hitting those in most need hardest, adult and children's social services.

"No mention of cutting the sky high salaries enjoyed by some of the senior managers. In fact, in a separate report it identifies that the council is raiding the contingency fund to pay for the additional £530,000 to fund new posts in the commercial department."

See Mr Reasonable.

'Barnet Eye' blog - More things than just money, Hammerson...

SEVERAL years ago, when my mum was still alive, but rather doddery, she was trying to cross the road at the bottom of Millway. As she was recovering from a stroke, a car got rather impatient with her and the idiot driving wound down his window and gave her a volley of abuse, purely for being unable to cross the road quickly.

Evening Standard: "Mayor Boris has room for manoeuvre"

Mayor Boris Johnson has ordered housebuilders to stop erecting rabbit hutches. Housing minister Grant Shapps has told them to carry on.

Is a delicious row about to break out between the Mayor and the minister? Sadly not: what Boris says goes in London and what Shapps says counts for naught, said a spokeswoman for the Mayor.

The minimum space standards being introduced in London next April mean that new homes in the capital may well be 20% to 40% larger than any new boxes stuck up in the minister's constituency of Welwyn Hatfield. Serves him right if the voters complain.

Extracted from here.

Government: "Localism Bill starts a new era of people power" [Oh, Yeah?]

Press Release

Met Office Hadley Centre: Two projected futures

Evening Standard; "Ministers to push Big Society idea" (Localism Bill)

Evening Standard

The legislation, to be published on Monday, will create:

• A right to buy significant local buildings. If the council decides to sell property, communities will receive extra time to develop their bid.
  
• Rights for the community to question how services are being run, and potentially take them over. This could include children's centres, social care services or transport.
  
• More rights for communities over planning, deciding where developments of new homes should go and protecting green spaces.

See a later Localism Bill item here.
See an earlier Localism Bill item here.

'Disgusted of Brent' worries about Hammerson's attempt at World Domination

"La Garde meurt, mais ne se rend pas."

"The A5 Edgware Road is a mere ditch, and will be crossed as soon as someone has the courage to attempt it." (16 November, 1803)

North London Waste Authority - a Beacon of Openness and Transparancy (23 Across: "What a Load of Old ......." [7 letters])

Don't get your hopes up, but there's something on page 12.
(There are also other documents below)

Zero-Carbon Housing: George Monbiot accuses; Grant Shapps responds

"Government redefines zero, as it abandons green homes commitment"

Link to The Guardian, 26 Nov. 2010

"Shapps maintains (without providing any reasoning to justify it) that deregulation will save an implausible £8,000 per home for house-builders. But abandoning even the modest energy-efficiency standards proposed by the last government will load future costs on householders, as the crappy homes they'll have to live in will cost a fortune to keep warm."

---

"UK remains committed to zero-carbon homes"

Link to The Guardian, 6 Dec. 2010

"I want to reassure everyone who's eager to see greener homes – change is on its way, and very soon I'll be setting out our progress towards achieving a zero-carbon approach, and the next steps we'll be taking."

Bestway bowls a wrong'un at North London Waste Authority (The Ashes - incinerators - gettit?)

BXC Scheme / NLWA / DEFRA / PFI Bidders

Dear North London Waste Authority,

Bestway notices that DEFRA has just published the criteria upon which they evaluated the current PFI bids from around the country. [Here - hope you like lime green.]

Northern Line Incident, August 2010: "There could have been fatalities"

London Underground detailed report -- featured because of our readership in the Northern Line catchment area...

Click for full technical report (34 pages, PDF)

The Guardian: "Committee on Climate Change wants emissions cut 60% by 2030"

"The CCC's carbon budgets are intended to reflect the levels of cuts required internationally to avoid dangerous climate change, often defined as a rise of more than 2C above pre-industrial temperatures.

"Chris Huhne, the secretary of state for energy and climate change, said:

"We know that the status quo will not be enough to cut carbon. We will formally respond to the report in spring next year."

Telegraph: "Grant your own planning permission, government tells homeowners" [plus Localism Bill]

Click for article and comments

"The provisions of the Localism Bill are expected to allow groups of householders to apply to become 'neighbourhoods' with defined boundaries, based on existing groups of streets or larger areas. There would be a 'presumption' that local authorities would officially recognise these new neighbourhoods."

See a later Localism Bill item here.
See an earlier Localism Bill item here.

'Barnet Eye' blog: Latest Barnet Council planning scandal - "Shedgate"

This is an example of shed advertising now on the 'Barnet Eye' web site.

Click above to see if there is more!

(No sheds have been harmed in the production of this link.)

Monday 6 Dec. 2.30pm: LONDON PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT FORUM public meeting

Discussion Items:
The Localism Bill, the Comprehensive Spending Review effects and a resumé of the London Plan EIP.

UPDATE: Due to the elitism of developers?architects?planners?, they do not consider being a"member of the public" to be sufficient qualification for attending.

Friends of the Earth national web site: Duck House seminar and DEFRA

Click above for FoE web site on Houses of Parliament 
incinerator seminar

Click Here for Earlier Post about incinerator seminar

Click above for FoE web site on DEFRA withdrawal of 
PFI funding of North London Waste Authority

Click Here for Earlier Post about DEFRA's withdrawal of PFI funding for NLWA

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“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

West London treads the path of North London, just a bit more slowly, here.

Barnet Times (subjects related to BXC) and Barnet Press

Click Here for Later Press Cuttings

Click Here for Previous Press Cuttings

Climate Change Mess: Prescott Steps In

Daily Telegraph: "Minister Greg Clark says residents will be given power to block supermarkets and housing developments"

Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent:

Daily Telegraph

"Greg Clark, the Communities Minister, announced that residents will be able to hold mini-referendums on "neighbourhood plans," which councils would be required by law to abide by." 

See a later Localism Bill item here.
See an earlier Localism Bill item here.

The Guardian: "Will the localism bill prepare the ground for smart cities?"

Link to The Guardian

"Integrated networks of district heating and cooling, power, communication and data, vacuum recycling, and public transport all flow along, and beneath, city streets.

"They serve attractive, diverse communities and places, which are genuinely accessible in every meaning of the word."

'Parish Council' across borough boundaries for Cricklewood?

Click for 'Society Guardian'

"One of the things I expect to follow from these new powers being available is for new arrangements to spring up around neighbourhoods – they may not call themselves parishes, but in essence have a much more local focus than existing borough councils"

 See a later Localism Bill item here.

Barnet Times and Barnet Press

Next

Previous

Barnet Residents Forums – still no tea and biscuits offered. [updated]

The current round of Residents' Forums is as follows:

None of this, thank you very much.
(We don't actually WANT you to attend.)

 Chipping Barnet  - Monday, 29 November 2010, 6.30pm, Coppetts Wood Primary School, Coppetts Road, Friern Barnet, N10.  Details

 Hendon  - Tuesday, 30 November 2010, 6.30pm, St Joseph's Pastoral Centre, St Joseph's Grove, The Burroughs, Hendon, NW4.  Details

If you live in Barnet, you are represented by one of these three forums.

Barnet councillors and officers
(Cups of tea after all!)

 Finchley & Golders Green  - Tuesday, 23 November 2010, 6.30pm, St Michael's Church Hall, The Riding, Off Golders Green Road, Golders Green.  Details

Report of the Meeting

"Mrs X was rather surprised to be told at the last Forum that the erstwhile 'Citizens Panel', of which she was a member, had been quietly put to sleep, due to the expense. At the same meeting, she was told that the Citizens Panel was also still being used, as part of the standard 'consultation' process.

"Of course, in the Alice in Wonderland corporate world of Broken Barnet, it is perfectly normal for two completely different things to be true at the same time, as many of the answers given at these events will tell you."

Full report here.

 

Link to Mrs A's friend:

Mrs X's general critique of the Residents Forums

Hammerson video, in the 'Imagination Gallery'. (Cue for first joke by CEO.)

Mid-2012 comment:

Sadly, these gems may no longer be available.

See if you can get the "slides" to work
- we can't!

... "The economic landscape has changed ... and not just for the short term."

... "We have a business goal of being the best developer in the UK and France."

... "Brent Cross is a fantastic success... It is a heritage brand!"

See: Toxic Hammerson Power Grab Threat
for LEP Control Fury

The Ecologist: "CAMPAIGN HERO: Simon Birkett of the Campaign for Clean Air in London"

Link to The Ecologist

"With much help, I calculated there were 3,460 premature deaths due to air pollution in London and 35,000 nationally in 2005. Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee accepted these estimates saying:

Link to 'Clean Air in London'

"'Air quality must be given a higher priority for Government. Defra must raise the profile of the issue, by publicising the latest data on premature deaths more widely, and making clear the benefits of improving air quality."

"The Mayor of London subsequently published an estimate of 4,267 premature deaths in London in 2008. The new Government has confirmed that the new national calculations are correct."

"... calculations suggest 35,000 to 50,000 deaths per year in UK
can be attributed to long-term exposure to fine particles"

The Guardian: "Move towards Tesco-towns 'puts communities at risk' "

Link to Guardian web site

"Mixed-use developments that involve building apartments, schools and parks linked to supermarkets in urban areas, threaten to be 'a liability rather than an asset to the community', says a report published today by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment."

 [Our comment: Now, where have we heard that before?]

"Incoming!" Brent lobs over a warning to Barnet. "They don't like it up 'em!"

Click to enlarge

THE A5 road is the 2000-year-old Roman 'Watling Street', and forms the border between the London Boroughs of Brent (hurrah!) and Barnet (boo!).

Senior officers of Brent have recently clarified various points to Coalition members:

• Whilst various matters were resolved, Brent did not remove or withdraw its principal objections prior to the Barnet Planning Committee of 18/19 November 2009.

Brent Councillor Jack Beck (Liberal Democrat) slams Brent Cross Development Decision

Click for statement

"Spending big money on PR firms doesn’t hide the fact the development will be a disaster.

"I will be urging Brent council for cross-party support on this matter, and will be writing to Cllr Ann John, to ensure that Brent does everything it can to protect its residents."

Barnet Times, Ham & High, and Willesden & Brent Times (with most browsers you can click a second time to magnify)

Next
Previous

Read another post about the Lord Mayor here.

Read about the Houses of Parliament visit here.

PLANNINGResource: "Londoners 'feel excluded from planning' "

PLANNINGResource web site

"Londoners feel they have little say in the design of new buildings and public spaces, according to research.

"Many people believe that public consultation is conducted only as a tick-box exercise."

(Survey was done by Open-City)

Urban Evolution, Consultation and Smarter Cities (Hammerson need not apply)

Coventry: click for Guardian web site

"Imaginative partnerships between the public and private sectors, led by local authorities, are essential to the delivery of innovative 'smart cities' of the future."

[Our comment: Hammerson has been in an "imaginative partnership" at Brent Cross 
- so they don't always turn out well!
On the other hand, Hammerson always did the leading, 
never Barnet, and paid for virtually everything.]

Another Guardian article

"This summer Coventry, in the West Midlands, hit on a novel way of using technology to the gather opinions of its residents. [sic - Grauniad error!]

"In conjunction with IBM it held a three-day mass online conversation – called CovJam – [with five forums] between some 3,000 residents, politicians and council officers.

"[Using the local authority's 'Inform, Consult, Involve' framework] the ideas that emerged from this discussion are now being used to reshape the authority's sustainable communities strategy."

[Our comment: 
Barnet doesn't do 'Conversation'.
Or Inform.
Or Consult.
Or Involve.]

And a warning from history.

THE GOOD NEWS: "A5/A406 Corridor Local Enterprise Partnership." ... THE BAD NEWS: Hammerson would chair it. [Updated]

"Why do we want to establish an A5/A406 Corridor LEP?"

"The overall proposed remit of the A5/A406 Corridor LEP is to identify opportunities for growth and prosperity, in order to stimulate growth in the private sector through:

• transforming growth areas through regeneration and development

• increased investment and innovation in infrastructure provision, including lobbying to be a pilot for Tax Increment Financing with TfL as partners."

SUBMISSION TO VINCE CABLE (no, not in that sense)
plus mention of Barnet's 'Plan B'

Wider considerations?

Mr Cameron's Happiness Index

UPDATE: 4 Dec. 2010:

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See a later Local Enterprise Partnership item here.
See an earlier Local Enterprise Partnership item here.

Willesden & Brent Times: "Cricklewood residents claim Brent Cross development will destroy their community"

Willesden and Brent Times web site

"Concerns over the loss of a community spirit built up over decades, and the type of new accommodation on offer, have rallied opposition to the plans."

Compare and Contrast: Both the area, and the kind of consultation

Link to Brent Council web site

London Borough of Brent is consulting the public and stakeholders on the 'Wembley Link Supplementary Planning Document' (SPD).

One of the consultation events will be held on Wednesday 24 November 2010 from 6.30 to 8.30pm at Patidar House, 22 London Road, Wembley. All comments must be received by 5.00 pm on 17 December 2010.