Brent Cyclists and Brent Cross: Over our dead bodies

The Hors d'oeuvre

"The modified proposals for Brent Cross Staples Corner look like something someone drew on the back of a fag packet -appalling quality, and in no way acceptable. Cyclists would be expected to proceed on the A5 from north to south via five or six Toucans and using shared paths. It would take 15 minutes to cover a distance that should take 15 seconds.

"We’ll be making a formal response shortly. The fundamental problem is they're not willing to alter their basic design for the junction, which was created on the basis of ignoring pedestrians and cyclists.

"Another aspect of the modified proposals (here) is the reduction of Tempelhof Avenue from a proposed two general lanes and two bus lanes, plus cycle track, to just two general lanes plus cycle track. So a big rolling back of bus provision.

"Meanwhile, we are hearing from senior sources in Transport for London that NONE of this will go ahead. We am inclined to believe this, though we don't have direct confirmation. How this might affect the rest of the regeneration scheme, we don’t know."

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The Main Course

Brent Cross Cricklewood Update to the Phase Transport Report for Phase 1

"The following is the Brent Cyclists response submitted on 19 January 2016 to this Barnet Brent Cross Cricklewood planning application. Some extracts from the plans relevant to the response are attached. 

"This a response on behalf of Brent Cyclists, the local group in Brent of the London Cycling Campaign. We represent around 200 members in Brent, and aim to represent the interests of all who cycle or would like to cycle in NW London. We have discussed these plans at our meeting."

"The document Phase 1 Addendum 4OF4 [above] shows a design for surface-level shared (Toucan) crossing for pedestrians and cyclists at Staples Corner West junction.While it is progress that there is now recognition that it will be necessary to accommodate the movements of pedestrians and cyclists at surface level at the junction, the proposed concept is totally unsatisfactory.

"From what one can tell from this unclear plan, it seems to require users to negotiate five or six separate crossings just to travel from north to south on the line of the A5. On a bicycle, this would turn what should be a 15 second trip segment into one lasting possibly 15 minutes. 

"It is absurd to suppose this would be used as intended by the designers. Furthermore, the concept of a shared cycle and pedestrian path is unsatisfactory. Separation is necessary between the different modes.

"The plans for the shared foot and cycleways shown in Addendum 3OF4 [above] remain unsatisfactory for the same reasons, and because the journey from north to south on the line of the A5 diverted on these paths would also be absurdly indirect and time-consuming for cyclists.

"Fundamentally we see here are road junction designs compiled with one sole criterion: motor vehicle throughput, and we see pedestrians and cyclists being grudgingly fitted-in round the margins in all these plans.

"We require a fundamental rethink of junction layouts at Staples Corner and elsewhere in the development area that treats cycling properly and applies the current TfL London Cycle Design Standards.

"These plans will remain unsatisfactory to us, other stakeholders, and, we believe, to all the surrounding borough councils, as well as Transport for London, until this is done."

Barnet Press: "Freer: 'diggers will be on Brent Cross within 18 months'"

"FINCHLEY and Golders Green MP Mike Freer told sixth formers that their school would be rebuilt under £4 billion plans to develop Brent Cross and Cricklewood - but said a more difficult construction challenge was that the Houses of Parliament were 'sinking'.

"Mr Freer met with pupils at Whitefield School, Claremont Road, which is set to be demolished and rebuilt as part of plans on its doorstep which include the building of more than 7,500 new homes, a new Thameslink rail station and the doubling the size of Brent Cross shopping centre.

"... Also meeting with deputy head boy Matei Sacerdoteanu, Mr Freer said the Brent Cross/Cricklewood development would create 'a small town of around 15,000 people' along with a commercial district and a fast rail link to the city and possibly Luton airport."

Barnet Times: "Cyclists 'disappointed' at new superhighway could be scrapped." And a Richard 'Ebenezer' Cornelius Brent Cross letter.

Scoot to web site

"CYCLISTS campaigning for safer routes are 'disappointed' after learning a superhighway linking Barnet, Brent and central London could be scrapped.

"... David Arditti, Brent Cyclists’ coordinator, who has lobbied Brent council to provide safer cycle routes, believes that central London is being prioritised over the outer towns.

"... Mr Arditti, who has coordinated Brent Cyclists for the last eight years, said he wants the next Mayor of London to commit to Brent Cross cycle routes, but neither Sadiq Khan or Zac Goldsmith have put forward any clear ideas.

"Clive Gomes, Brent Cyclists' campaigns coordinator, said: 'Provisions for Brent Cross cyclists are almost non-existent.'"

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Barratts: Buy property in Barnet - at West Hendon / Welsh Harp for instance!

Barnet Press: Hammerson's Unnecessary Brent Cross Living (Hell) Bridge, and Whitefields Homes

('Temple Fortune' should be 'Tempelhof Avenue'.)

BBC: "What makes estates 'brutal'?"

"David Cameron has announced plans to tackle social problems through bulldozing a number of Britain's housing estates, saying they are 'entrenching poverty', and that the 'brutal high-rise towers and dark alleyways' are a 'gift to criminals and drug dealers'. So does the design of estates cause crime?"

Link to web site

"... Rather than focusing on individual features, there's a more fundamental approach that makes for a happy estate.

" 'A lot of these post-war estates were built without community engagement in the development of the plans, and what's important in terms of getting it right next time is that we actually work with the people who live there to design estates to be places where people want to live,' says Fisher.

"Carron agrees that giving residents a say is absolutely fundamental:

"Consultation needs to happen with the people who live on these estates. You need to ask them what's wrong with where they're living. Don't go in and think you can just bulldoze it down."

[Reposted from April 2014] The Guardian: "Boris Johnson's transport planners forecast soaring London road congestion"

Link to web site

"Boris Johnson's transport policies will fail to prevent huge increases in road traffic congestion across London in the coming years, according to research by his own transport agency.

"Transport for London has concluded that by 2031 congestion in central London will have worsened by 60% even if Johnson's entire transport strategy investment programme is implemented and augmented with further short-term measures. Congestion in inner London is projected to rise by 25% and in outer London by 15%.

"A paper containing a summary of the research was presented to the TfL board's surface transport panel earlier this month. It says a range of 'easier' options that might lessen congestion, including greater use of traffic control technology, attempts to change people's travel habits and further public transport investment, would be 'insufficiently effective by themselves to hold congestion at today's levels and will in fact only provide a few years of mitigation'."

Barnet Press: Councillor Cornelius: (a) A master strategist (George Osborne), or (b) A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner (Charles Dickens)

[Reposted] 2009: Brent Cross Railway: The Wilderness Years

'Barnet Times':

Link to the Barnet Times
(map shows possible eventual 2009 scheme -
before diversion to Old Oak Common Crossrail in the west,
and reaching Alexandra Palace Crossrail 2 in the east,
 began to be promoted)

"The light-rail, or electric tram, will ease road congestion, as well as reduce climate change, say the Campaign for Better Transport backed by Barnet councillors Geof Cooke, Labour, and Conservative John Hart.

"In Barnet Council’s Local Development Framework, published in June last year, poor transport links within the borough were identified as a key challenge in the borough’s growth.

"A meeting to discuss the plans is to be held at Barnet House, 1255 High Road, Whetstone, this Wednesday at 7.30pm."

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'Barnet Eye' web site:
"Trams for Barnet - Sense at last !!!"

(Click above to enlarge)

Link to a 2009 post (and comments)
on Barnet Eye.

"One of my biggest objections to the various regeneration schemes in Barnet is the lack of infrastructure. Looking at these plans, it seems that maybe, at last, a bit of thought is being put into addressing some of these issues. What is interesting about these plans is just how much of the scheme is utilising, disused or underused existing railways. 

"One of my biggest bugbears is just how difficult it is to get across the borough, East to West. Since the demise of Edgware general, people wuch as my aunt who lives in Mill Hill, have a nightmare journey to get to Barnet Hospital. This scheme, if fully implemented would make this journey far easier, with a connection from Mill Hill Copthall to Finchley Central, then a tube trip to Barnet. 

"Linking the two branches of the Northern Line (Colindale to Finchley Central) is a masterstroke. It is also worth noting that it makes many school trips far more practical using public transport. This scheme is good for the environment, good for the travelling public and good for Barnet businesses. As such I fully support it."

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December 2011: 

More up-to-date light-rail proposals start from west London's Old Oak Common High-Speed-Two/Crossrail station, via Brent Cross (with a branch to Wembley) then Colindale, Mill Hill East, Finchley Central, and the North Circular Road corridor to New Southgate and Arnos Grove.

'Transport for London' has suggested a new 'Crossrail 2' line, from south-west London to Alexandra Palace. An interchange with that might be the terminus - or light-rail could continue, following the North Circular Road further eastwards.

A 'Phase One' scheme would likely be around either Brent Cross or Old Oak Common. Hammersmith & Fulham Council wants light-rail at Old Oak Common, as shown in its Sir Terry Farrell video.

The vast majority of the 'North and West London Light Railway' route would be along existing freight railway corridors, old railway track-beds, and the North Circular Road. Two tunnels would probably be needed - to cross the M1 motorway (which was built on the removed railway track) and east of Arnos Grove.

There is more information on the TRANSPORT page.

[Verily, reposted] "We are Brent Citizens Against the Planning Corruption of the London Borough of Barnet! We have been charged with a holy quest!"

Briefing on New Rail Services in Brent


This briefing gives details of:

• the proposed "Crossrail-to-the-West-Coast-Main-Line" service through Wembley Central station
  
• a new London Overground service across Brent to Hendon Thameslink station
  
• possible light-rail / tram services.

When rail services are proposed, they have to be paid for. Brent has the Wembley Opportunity Area, but the main sources of possible subsidy come from:

• Brent Cross Cricklewood (in Barnet) and
• Old Oak Common (now controlled by the "Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation").

BRENT CROSS CRICKLEWOOD

This is a £4.5-billion development, with a very long border with Brent, along the A5 Edgware Road.

There was a 1996 car-based scheme to expand the out-of-town shopping centre: HERE

John Prescott and the High Court both rejected this, and in 2002 Barnet instructed the shopping centre developers, including Hammerson, to devise a bigger "Brent Cross Cricklewood Masterplan".

This was just "top-down planning", and Barnet has never bothered with anything more democratic.


In 2005 Barnet produced "Supplementary Planning Guidance" for the London Plan, but it merely confirmed what was in the masterplan.

It predicted over 29,000 extra cars per day in the Brent Cross area!

Comments were submitted to reopen the Dudding Hill Freight Line that runs across Brent (from Acton, via Harlesden, Neasden and Gladstone Park). But these attempts were thrown out, because "the railway wasn't in Barnet".


A Brent Cross Cricklewood planning application was submitted in 2008.

Campaigners proposed a "North and West London Light Railway" with phase one at Brent Cross, instead of all the extra cars: Three pages in PDF file HERE (be patient for it to download)

LB of Brent also produced a map of possible light-rail across Brent and to Wembley, Green dashed lines HERE


Hammerson wrote to the transport campaigners that it would only "investigate light-rail" if they signed an undertaking not to oppose the planning application! This was refused.


Barnet passed the application through committee in November 2009, although only after a Barnet officer lied that Brent did not object to the plan. (A robust exchange of letters followed.)

Barnet announced there would be an "A5 Corridor Study" - of various transport studies across Barnet, Brent and Camden - to placate opposition. This seems to have been downgraded by Barnet, into a minor planning condition, by a year later when formal consent was given.


The Brent Cross plan was "refreshed" in 2014, dropping most of the Section 106 promises.

Note that it still includes a 300,000 tonne-per-year waste incinerator next to Dollis Hill, and a 5-storey building on the only green space in Cricklewood's town centre, next to B&Q.

Only the chief whip of Barnet Tories spoke at the 2014 meeting. He said Brent Cross shopping centre was looking "tired". Everything else was still in the same planning application, including Cricklewood Lane over a mile away.


Brent Cross continues as a car-based development, just as in 1996.


LB of Brent is objecting to the latest version of the "A5 Corridor Study".

LB of Barnet only models Brent's road junctions if they are "not quite at saturation level" (that is, below 90%). Above that, the extra congestion - at already clogged junctions - is apparently not Barnet's concern, even though the junctions will get Brent Cross traffic.

OLD OAK COMMON

The High Speed Two and Crossrail station at Old Oak Common is a game-changer.

It is very near the route of the original light-rail proposal, but offers two new rail services across Brent - a branch of Crossrail to the West Coast Main Line (stopping at Wembley Central and Harrow & Wealdstone) and a new London Overground service on the Dudding Hill Line (to Brent Cross and Hendon or Mill Hill Broadway).

Transport for London plans are shown HERE and HERE


A "Harlesden Town Team" map of the area (take plenty of time to study it!) is shown HERE

CROSSRAIL TO THE WEST COAST MAIN LINE

There are various routes across Park Royal that this might take.

One possibility (the cheapest) is to follow the Dudding Hill Line as far as Harlesden, probably with extra parallel tracks, and then turn towards Wembley.

Other possibilities allow an extra Crossrail station within Park Royal, maybe near Central Middlesex Hospital.


There could be as many as eight Crossrail trains an hour stopping at Wembley Central,

In fact any smaller number and possibly NO trains would stop. This is because the platforms there are very narrow, and it is not feasible for staff to open the platform each time a fast through-train has gone by.

For safety, either all stop or none stop.


This plan has been downgraded recently, because Euston station will now be redeveloped in three phases, and there is less need to divert trains a different way. However, the benefits of Crossrail to Brent are clear - and need lobbying!

LONDON OVERGROUND ACROSS BRENT

Of course, the North London Line already runs across Brent, but the new service would be further out, and act as a "North Circular Road bypass".

Trains might run from Hounslow, on another new service.

They would stop at Old Oak Common at a new station, to interchange with the North London Line, HS2 and Crossrail, then use the Dudding Hill Line towards Hendon Thameslink station.


This is likely to be a four-trains-per-hour service.

The studies so far show a good economic case for this new Brent route. The line would need to be electrified, and freight trains would also benefit. Again, lobbying will help!

POSSIBLE LIGHT-RAIL / TRAMS IN BRENT

To be realistic, the above schemes - Crossrail and London Overground - are the main targets to aim for.

Nevertheless, car-based Brent Cross (and Colindale) still needs a tram system, and a separate system has been suggested at Old Oak Common, towards Kensal Canalside and Westbourne Park.


There is also the possibility of personal rapid transit pods, as in use at Heathrow Airport, shown HERE

However, no-one has introduced such a system across a wide area, and it might cost general users too much - perhaps like Boris's ill-fated dangleway across the Thames in east London.

So then:

• Lobby for Brent's new Crossrail and London Overground services.
• Despise the Brent Cross congestion (by opposing LB of Barnet's scheme).
• Hope for better planning at Old Oak Common.

The Guardian: "The 'Paddington Shard' row shines a light on London's mayoral choice"

"The latest outbreak of hostilities over tall buildings in the capital underlines how crucial to the city’s future the next mayor’s planning policies will be"

Link to web site

"Four days before Christmas, Boris Johnson’s right hand man Sir Edward Lister wrote this for City AM:

"Not for the first time, tall buildings in the capital are attracting media debate and some criticism. But tall buildings in the right places can be part of the solution. Crucially, if we are genuinely serious about preserving our green belt at the same time as managing London’s population explosion, we will need to continue to build upwards.

"Tall buildings can create real value and provide the density so badly needed in a rapidly-growing city. They are not just suitable as bases for the thousands of new companies requiring office space in the capital each year, but as homes for Londoners too."

"The day after that, the Guardian’s Simon Jenkins wrote this for the Evening Standard:

"A plot is afoot to race ahead with a 'second Shard' in Paddington over the New Year. If built, it would be 72 storeys - one floor shorter than its sister tower - overlooking west London between Bayswater and Maida Vale. The developers could be hoping to avoid adverse publicity over the holiday so as to get planning permission at the beginning of March. At that point major planning decisions are suspended in advance of the mayoral elections.

They have the support of the mayor, Boris Johnson, and his tower-hungry deputy, Sir Edward Lister. They cannot trust either of the new mayoral candidates, Zac Goldsmith or Sadiq Khan, to be sympathetic."

"Fight! Fight! Fight! A joust between two of the built environment’s most august knights! A Jedi-esque dust-up over the city’s very soul! Who should we be rooting for, and why?"

Rail Engineer; "Remodelling Cricklewood"

Link to the Fat Controller

"Next time you travel down to London on the Midland main line, look out of the left-hand window as you enter the capital. Depending on the time of day, you will see either a load of trains parked up, waiting for the next peak period, or an expanse of empty sidings.

"This is Cricklewood. A large part of the East Midlands Trains fleet seems to be parked here during the day, and that role is due to be expanded as the new Thameslink fleet comes into operation."

(via Barnet Bugle) London Borough of Barnet's 2008 video of Colindale railway bridge ("On budget" - actually the budget was overspent by £11 million) and equally vacuous remarks about Brent Cross Cricklewood

Barnet Council's 'Three Strands' video March 2008 from Vimeostorage on Vimeo.

[Reposted from 2009] Holding up the vote in north London

2009-11-09 Risks to Light Rail

More on the Transport page.

[Reposted] Out-of-Town Brent Cross Shopping Centre: From congestion hell to, er, 'living bridge' and congestion hell?

(Click to enlarge images)

1996
(multi-storey car parks along all four sides;
plan finally rejected at appeal in 2002)

2011
(rest of 'town centre' plan abandoned indefinitely;
now just 'shops and leisure')

2014: There's been another redesign.

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Link to:

"Imaginary memo from Hammerson to Standard Life Investments"

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Link to HOME (see all posts).

Unlike with Barnet's corrupt 2009 planning consent: "Enfield: Are roads for cars or kids? My part in the fight to make people-friendly streets"

"A Play Streets scheme that closes roads to cars opened Clare Rogers' eyes to the idea of roads for recreation. Now she's part of a grassroots campaign to revolutionise cycling in Enfield – but the battle isn't over"

Link to The Guardian

"My sister Sally started it when she sent me a video about Playing Out – the seminal Bristol project which closes residential roads to traffic so children can play freely – adding: 'Shame you couldn’t do this on your street.' Nothing goads like a sibling, and two years later our Palmers Green rat-run was an official London Play Street.

"Each month traffic is blocked off for three hours and the children play out with bikes, scooters, balls and chalk. Our girls, aged five and eight when it started, love it. It was a revelation seeing the tarmac used for something other than cars, and we got to know our neighbours in a way that was not possible when we only used the street to park on.

"The other revelation was the attitude of those neighbours who hated the idea. They organised a petition against the play street, and quotes from the time include: 'Roads are for cars, not kids', 'We’ll be a magnet for paedophiles' and 'Who’s going to pay when my car gets scratched?' Now these same neighbours have either approved the renewed play street order, or take part as stewards. I guess they just needed to see it up and running.

The Pods of Heathrow Airport

HAMMERGATE: Hammerson Shopping Centre Expansion in Car-choked London Traffic Congestion Scandal. (Sigh.)

Link to 'Inside Croydon'

"As the man who notoriously wants to speed 'the Surrey wallet-share' towards his mates' property scheme at Hammerson/Westfield, London Assembly Member Steve O'Connell probably doesn’t care much for the loss of parkland, homes and businesses in the TfL road schemes. O'Connell will be standing for re-election to City Hall next May.

"Croydon Council’s response to the original TfL consultation, which offered 'a pig in a poke' of no real choice at all, and certainly no public transport improvements to reduce private car use, came in for comment from the public at last week's council meeting.

"It was there that Labour's cabinet member for transport, Councillor Kathy Bee let slip that TfL was now looking at further road-building plans at Fiveways. 'Considerably more work has been conducted around Fiveways itself,' Bee told the meeting."

Thurs 17 Dec: Clitterhouse Farm event

Link to web site

FESTIVE CELEBRATIONS & CONVERSATIONS

Thurs 17th Dec 6.30-8.30pm
Ron Thomas Hall, 167A Cheviot Gardens, Cricklewood, NW2 1PY (MAP)

"Join us for a Festive Season gathering. We would like to share our news and plans for 2016 and also to hear your news and views about our area.

"We will be launching an exciting new project which we will be working on for the next 6 months through the Community Organisers Mobilisation Grant. Our aim is to explore with you how our local communities can make the best use of Community Rights and Neighbourhood Planning to address issues we care about and help shape the future of our area.

"Please bring your favourite festive dish to share if you can. Some hot soup, drinks and snacks will be provided.

"We would be most grateful if could let us to know if you will be attending so we can plan ahead for catering. Please RSVP via the Eventbrite link below. Everyone is welcome and his is a free event."



"We hope to see lots of you before Christmas and to celebrate with everyone who has helped make 2015 such a success. Spread the word and bring your friends and neighbours, we're always looking to meet new people who live, work or volunteer in the area and would like to get involved."

[Reposted from Nov. 2010] Barnet Times: "Residents on the Whitefield Estate anxious over the future of their homes after Brent Cross Cricklewood approval"

Brent Cross Whitefields Estate: Hammerson's Path of Unnecessary (but profitable) Destruction

Scorched earth

ThisIsMoney: "Thousands of new family homes could be built on green belt land in the biggest shake up of planning rules for three decades" (Daily Mail, so it's a long headline)

Link to web site

"A number of towns and cities in Britain could be set for rapid expansion in the coming years as the Government launches a consultation on relaxing green belt building.

"The Department for Communities and Local Government is considering whether local communities should be able to allocate sites for small starter home developments in their green belt.

"In what would be the biggest shake-up to planning protections for more than three decades, the ribbon of green belt land around towns and cities which prevents urban sprawl - bar in exceptional circumstances - could be built on more freely.

"The consultation comes as Chancellor George Osborne outlined plans for 400,000 new homes before 2020 in his Autumn Statement last month."

The Observer: "Is the only way up for London's skyline?"

"The Shard, the Cheesegrater, the Walkie Talkie… and there are more towers to come. So how do we judge what's blight and what's beautiful?"

Link to web site

"Tall buildings in London, say various forms of official policy on the matter, should be well-designed and in the right place. Well I never. Who could possibly disagree with that? Hands up all those who want badly designed skyscrapers in the wrong places.

"Yet, if you survey the hundreds of plans for towers at various stages of planning and construction in London, it's hard to find those elusive beings that have both or even either quality, projects that are unequivocally Well-designed And In The Right Place – let’s call them WDAITRPs.

"The Walkie Talkie? No on both counts. The St George tower in Vauxhall, and the Strata in Elephant and Castle? Ditto. The Shard? Arguably one but not the other."

The Guardian: "How do you create a city for all? The answer lies in West Norwood ..."

"Can local community cooperation be scaled up to create a participatory city? Neighbourhood-led pilot project the Open Works thinks so"

Link to web site

"In February 2014, a pilot project was launched in West Norwood, south London, mobilising 1,000 people to reconfigure their neighbourhood for everyday benefit. In partnership with Lambeth Council, the Open Works united residents of the neighbourhood to create 20 new, community-led initiatives – from orchards and gardens to a youth ideas incubator; from craft groups to communal kitchens.

" 'The idea was to test whether high-density, mass community participation can be scaled up to create a participatory city. And we believe it can,' says Laura Billings and Tessy Britton, co-founders of the Open Works. 'Community participation should be the starting point in any community development, not an afterthought.'

A follow-up report found that the small amount of seed-funding from Lambeth Council had indeed been successful in achieving 'bottom-up' change, building valuable social capital between those usually outside of each other's networks. But amid a backdrop massive cuts to council funding across the country – Lambeth has lost over 56% of its budget since 2010 – the project’s funding ended earlier this year."

"New funding for Community Organisers announced"

"The Minister for Civil Society, Rob Wilson MP, has announced the launch of a new £500,000 fund to support Community Organisers to mobilise residents to take action on the issues they care about.

"Twenty seven community organisers across England will benefit from the Community Organisers Mobilisation Fund which is jointly backed by the Cabinet Office and Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

"All of the communities benefiting from the Fund will be supported to use the powers available to them under the Localism Act 2011. Community Organisers will actively support these communities to make the most of community rights, neighbourhood planning and other neighbourhood approaches to create positive change in their local area. The fund will enable communities to shape the future of the places they live and work in – from using the Community Right to Build with residents of Heaton in Newcastle to setting up community owned pubs in Brighton.

"Different types of communities from across the country will benefit, including:

• in Bognor Regis, Val Souchet will be supporting community groups to use the Community Right to Bid alongside other neighbourhood approaches to put the community at the heart of decision making. The focus will be on harnessing economic boosts like local tourism and development to benefit residents
  
• in rural Cornwall, Patrick Murphy aims to support residents to deliver community-led youth services and will look to transfer a Nancherrow Youth Centre in West Cornwall into community ownership
  
• in Birmingham, Kaneez Hasna will be working in the community of Bordesley Green. She will support the residents to understand how the Community Right to Challenge can help improve services and assets in their local area , including their local heritage park."

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"Get involved in your community – for ideas, resources, case studies and tools see: My Community and link up with others taking action in their neighbourhood by joining the My Community Network."

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"Rob Wilson, Minister for Civil Society said:

"I am delighted that residents across England will benefit from the support of a Community Organiser to help them shape their neighbourhoods. More resilient, capable communities are a cornerstone of my vision for a bigger and stronger society. I look forward to seeing positive changes in these communities."

"Marcus Jones, Minister for Local Government said:

"This is an exciting opportunity for residents to take greater control of their local assets and planning for the future. It supports our commitment to creating stronger and more resilient communities. It will encourage these neighbourhoods to consider how they can influence local decision making, improve local services and help them shape the place where they live. I look forward to hearing about the positive impact on local neighbourhoods as the projects progress."

"The Company of Community Organisers Ltd is managing the initiative on behalf of the Cabinet Office and DCLG."

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"Read about other ways that we’re supporting social action."

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Sky: "Many New-Build Homes Like 'Rabbit Hutches'" (led by Hammerson's despotic General Woundwort)

"The Royal Institute of British Architects says space standards that are currently optional should apply across the board"

Link to Sky web site

"Many new family homes being built in England are like rabbit hutches because they are too small to live in comfortably, a report has warned.

"It found that on average a new three-bedroom home sold outside London is four square metres short of what buyers need – equivalent to the size of a family bathroom.

"The study by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) compared the sizes of new three-bedroom homes on more than 100 developments across England against new, optional space standards introduced in October."

Create Streets; "High-Rise Buildings: Energy and Density"

"High-Rise Buildings: Energy and Density Professor Philip Steadman of UCL sets out some of the existing evidence on density and energy usage for high-rise buildings"

Link to PDF file

"As is well known, large numbers of high-rise buildings are under construction or planned for London. A survey last year by New London Architecture showed that 236 buildings of more than 20 storeys are planned, of which 80% are residential.

Today there are extra concerns about high-rise buildings, to do with their sustainability and use of energy. In this context a new research project at University College London’s Energy Institute will try to answer two questions:

1. Are high-rise buildings more energy-intensive – all other things being equal – than equivalent low-rise buildings?

2. Is it possible to provide the same total floor area on the same sites as high-rise buildings, but on a much-reduced number of storeys?"

LeighDay: "Cressingham Gardens’ tenant wins High Court legal battle against Lambeth Council"

Link to web site

"The High Court has found Lambeth Council acted unlawfully when it removed options from a public consultation over plans to redevelop the Cressingham Gardens estate in Lambeth, South London.

"Lambeth Council began a consultation process with tenants of the Estate in November 2014, by setting up sub-groups to consider resident management options; wellbeing; green retrofitting; financial modelling; and test of opinion and a series of workshops to obtain the residents’ views on the future of the estate.

It proposed five options to be consulted on: Options 1 to 3 concerned refurbishment and options 4 and 5 were part and full demolition.

However, in March 2015, before the sub-group's reports had been fed back to the Council, options 1 to 3, the refurbishment options, had been removed by the Council."

Just Space: "Vision for the next London Plan"

Link to web site

"The Just Space network of community groups and London-wide organisations works to influence London’s strategic planning document, The London Plan, and today issues a set of 'key demands' which will form the basis of more detailed Community Visions for the next London Plan

"... Just Space Co-ordinator, Richard Lee said:

"While the Mayor's staff are preparing their new version of London's strategic planning document that will affect the lives of all Londoners, Just Space groups have seized the initiative and are putting forward ideas of what local people want to see included.

For too long, London’s planning system has failed to deliver for Londoners on issues such as air pollution and inequalities, has not developed a rounded economy, and has failed to tackle the affordable housing crisis. Local people are demanding a better future for London and all Londoners."

Hammerson's "£1bn Westfield scheme is running late with a 2020 vision"

Link to Inside Croydon

"The £1 billion shopping supermall, which multi-national developers and Croydon’s biggest land-owners have been promising to deliver on the site of the run-down Whitgift Centre, won’t now be open for business for more than five years.

"The delay in development was announced this week by a senior council official, and has been confirmed by a spokesman for the developers.

"... One of the reasons for the slowing of pace towards the development is the complicated and complex CPO. The Croydon CPO – Compulsory Purchase Order – will see our local authority buy up a 7-hectare town centre site, mainly the Whitgift Centre, to enable the developers to implement their scheme of retail, offices and 'luxury' apartments.

"The Westfield/Hammerson plans for the development include 136,500 sq m of retail space, 16,400 sq m of leisure facilities and 1,900 sq m of offices."