Construction Enquirer: "Hammerson's £1bn Croydon shopping centre start pushed back to 2017"

"Hammerson is in ongoing talks with anchor tenants for the new shopping centre"
[which may mean John Lewis has so far failed to sign up]

"Developer Hammerson has put back until next year the construction start on its £1bn scheme to redevelop Croydon's Whitgift shopping centre.

"The project is one of three major schemes Hammerson plans to start in 2017 with a combined construction cost of up to £1.4bn.

"It is the second time the developer in joint venture with Westfield has pushed the ambitious scheme back a year."

"Goodsyard plan includes a 220,000 sq ft retail 'village', 1,350 flats and substantial public realm including a new park"

"... Hammerson in joint venture with Ballymore is also hoping to start its £800m Goodsyard scheme on the London City fringe in Shoreditch next year.

"Last September, the Mayor of London called in the 2.8m sq ft mixed-use development due to non-determination by local planning authorities Hackney and Tower Hamlets."

"If all goes to plan the revamped Brent Cross sopping [sic] centre could open in 2021"

"It is also hoping to start the 1m sq ft Brent Cross shopping centre extension and refurbishment next year, subject to CPO power being granted for development land at an inquiry in May." [Yeh, right.]

[Reposted from Dec 2009] BRENT COUNCIL REITERATES OPPOSITION TO BRENT CROSS DEVELOPMENT AND CALLS FOR A PUBLIC INQUIRY

Barnet Council passed the controversial plans for the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration on 19 November 2009, claiming that neighbouring Brent had withdrawn their objections. The Coalition opposing the plans is now slating Barnet planners for misrepresenting Brent Council’s objections. [2014: Brent STILL opposes it!]

The Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood Plan, who represent residents, politicians and campaign groups across Barnet, Brent and Camden were astounded to hear Barnet planner Martin Cowie at the meeting saying that Brent had withdrawn their objections to the scheme. Letters from Brent Council’s Officer and Brent Council’s Leader, Paul Lorber show clearly that Brent continue to oppose the scheme as it currently stands.

Lia Colacicco, Coalition Co-ordinator and Mapesbury resident says:

“When contacted, Brent planning department said that the Planning Committee members had voted unanimously to formally object to the scheme. This objection stands and there are no plans to go back to Committee with a recommendation to change this stance.

“Letters from Chris Walker, Head of Brent Planning, to Barnet on October 20th, and again on November 27th, make Brent's objections quite clear. We are therefore mystified as to why Martin Cowie claimed that Brent has substantially withdrawn its objections. Brent base their objections on major traffic issues and the nature of the waste handling facility."

“Barnet Officers have not only misrepresented the views of Brent residents, but have now withheld the truth about Brent Council’s continuing position in order to push through these disastrous plans.”

Chris Walker, Head of Planning in Brent, in a letter to Barnet's Stewart Murray dated 27 November 2009 makes it clear that:

“….while significant moves have been made to address Brent’s concerns in the draft heads of terms and conditions, Brent has not withdrawn their objection to the proposed development.”

Brent Council Leader, Cllr Paul Lorber additionally wrote to the Secretary of State on 25th November reiterating his continued objections to the plans, and calling for a Public Inquiry.

The Coalition believes this means the Secretary of State John Denham must now call in the plans for Public Inquiry.

---

Link to HOME (see all posts).

[Reposted from 2004] Mike McGuinness: "Do I HAVE to front the Brent Cross Cricklewood Public Exhibition 2014? Can't JJ - we pay him enough! Oh, he's a busted flush, is he? Gawd, give me the slanted wording then, London Communications Public Relations..."

"Hello, Gullible Punters! [He didn't say that.]

"I am pleased to inform you that the Brent Cross Cricklewood development partners, having gained planning consent for the masterplan earlier this year, will shortly begin a series of public exhibitions showcasing the detailed designs for the first stage of the regeneration.

"This first part of the scheme will:

• Renew and revive Clitterhouse Playing Fields and Claremont Park creating two beautiful community parks, as well as starting to create Brent Riverside Park
• Make major improvements to local roads and junctions for the benefits of drivers, pedestrians and cyclists
• Prepare the ground for a new town centre on either side of the North Circular, linked by a landmark new Living Bridge.

["Why aren't we saying anything about the !#@$%& shopping centre? And the waste incinerator? And the extra 29,000 cars per day? Oh, we deliberately don't mention 'em! I've never understood PR."]
 
"The public exhibitions will start on Friday 10 October at Brent Cross Shopping Centre and continue until Saturday 18 October, visiting two other venues in the area – the Crown Moran Hotel on Cricklewood Broadway, and the Hendon Leisure Centre. Details of the public exhibition times and venues can be found below. ["Did you see wot I wrote for the Commons Select Committee? They didn't ask me again. Funny that."]

"The exhibitions will provide an opportunity to learn more about Brent Cross Cricklewood and how it will be delivered over the coming years as well as ask any questions and meet the project team. ["Do we mention that Hammerson is clearing off as soon as possible, and Barnet is trying to find another poor punter to keep the miserable show on the road? Oh, we keep shtum about that? Mmm."]

"In the meantime if you would like any further information about the plans, please do not hesitate to contact the consultation team on 0800 881 5303 (freephone) or email info@brentcrosscricklewood.com. Our plans will also be available on our website www.brentcrosscricklewood.com from the 10 October. ["And not a second before. We're no fools!"]

"I look forward to seeing you." ["Do we do irony, then?"]

Mike McGuinness,
Development Director ["Can I go now?"]

---

BRENT CROSS SHOPPING CENTRE

Centre Court, Prince Charles Drive, London, NW4 3FP

on

Friday 10 October, 10am – 8pm

Saturday 11 October, 9am – 8pm

Sunday 12 October, 12pm – 6pm

CROWN MORAN HOTEL

Sala Room, 142-152 Cricklewood Broadway, London NW2 3ED

on

Tuesday 14 October, 12pm – 8pm

Wednesday 15 October, 12pm – 8pm

HENDON LEISURE CENTRE

Studio 1, Marble Drive, Brent Cross, London, NW2 1XQ

on

Friday 17 October, 12pm – 8pm

Saturday 18 October, 11am – 5pm

Evening Standard: "Number of London cyclists 'equal to a fifth of Tube passengers'"

Link to web site

"The number of people cycling in London is equivalent to a fifth of the daily number of Tube passengers, according to new research.

Transport for London revealed the latest rise in cycle journeys as it set out its vision of 1.5 million daily bike trips by 2026, double the current rate.

In a challenge to the next Mayor, the report sets out TfL's wish to 'normalise' cycling as a 'very cost-effective form of mass transit' at a time of falling Government investment and huge increases in the capital's population."

Brent & Kilburn Times: Contrasting the Developing Local Plan underway at Old Old Common, and the Corrupt Planning Consent given at Brent Cross

Evening Standard: Rubbish Hammerson, Mediocre David Atkins, Arrogant Barnet (Well, words to that effect)

Evening Standard: "Unflappable property company boss has a starring role in the Theatre of Retail"

"Hammerson's chief executive David Atkins with big plans for some of London's most popular shopping centres"

"... Hammerson is best known in London for Brent Cross. ... 'People love shopping centres,' Atkins says. 'Human beings are programmed to identify with real places in a way you can't get with a web site.'

"He cites Brent Cross, which will be 40 years old in a fortnight.

"... Hammerson is partnering with Westfield to deliver a much-needed redevelopment of Croydon's shopping centre, and has finally negotiated 'the minefield of the planning environment in the country', to extend and refurbish Brent Cross.

"I hazard a guess at how long the Brent Cross planning process took: four or five years? 'Try 15,' Atkins says. It's a mark of his calm personality that he doesn't get even remotely agitated on the subject, beyond deapanning; 'Let's just say that John Prescott [the secretary of state in charge of planning for much of the process] is not on my Christmas list.'

"The good news, he says, is that work will start soon in a project that includes building 7500 new homes to neighbouring Cricklewood. [sic]

"... With which parting patter, he buttons a thin overcoat up to his neck and paces out into the chill. I think he'll need a hot-water bottle." [continued.]

The Observer: "Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers"

"Our role as obedient customers is put under the spotlight in an ambitious history of global economics"

Link to web site

"JG Ballard's last published novel, Kingdom Come, unfolds in a fictional London suburb called Brooklands, where a vast shopping mall [wonder which one] fosters a bovine social docility. In the book's wayward conceit, consumerism is a totalitarian device used to control people and their artificial wants. Fired up by dreams of wealth, Brooklanders indulge in Black Friday-style bargain-hunting in their local Metro Centre.

"Ballard was not the first to see shopping as a secular religion. Émile Zola, in his 1883 novel The Ladies’ Paradise, tells the rise of a department store in late 19th-century Paris and its role in the new mass consumption. With its silk counters and perfume department, the store looks forward to our age of indiscriminate purchase and credit binge. Far from aiding the French economy, Zola's cathedral of commerce heralds a new retail Europe of consumer anxiety, boom and bust.

"...Free-trade champions tend to see consumption as embodying the individual’s right to “consumer choice”. In their neoliberal view, money spent on material goods bolsters the values of democracy and prosperity for all. British prime minister Margaret Thatcher ('the priestess of neoliberalism', says Trentmann) sought to demolish anti-consumerist Marxist attitudes as a matter of urgency. When, in March 1987, she toured Soviet Moscow in a Cossack-style fur hat, the Russians embraced her as an emissary of barcode freedoms and wealth."

Much of the Barnet Planning Committee is being replaced (by sentient beings with greater capability)

"Robots will take over most jobs within 30 years, experts warn, and the rise of robots could lead to unemployment rates greater than 50 per cent"

Link to Sunday Telegraph

"Robots will have taken over most jobs within 30 years leaving humanity facing its 'biggest challenge ever' to find meaning in life when work is no longer necessary, according to experts.

Professor Moshe Vardi, a professor in computational engineering at Rice University in the US, claims that jobs of many middle-class professionals will be outsourced to machines within the next few decades, leaving workers with more leisure time than they have ever experienced.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Washington, Prof Vardi said the rise of robots could lead to unemployment rates greater than 50 per cent:

"We are approaching a time when machines will be able to outperform humans at almost any task."

[Reposted from Jun 2014] "Have councils abandoned the poor, searching for economic growth?"

"From Hackney cosying up to the digital elite to regeneration in Southwark – councils risk forgetting they're part of the safety net.

"Some council choices are questionable, such as the displacement of social tenants in Elephant and Castle (below)"

Link to The Guardian

"Is the state abandoning the poor? The hyperbolic question started an interesting debate this week at the Chartered Institute of Housing Conference in Manchester, provoking a backlash against a perceived 'collusion' between the modern public servant and government.

"No, we can't reasonably argue that the state has walked away from the most vulnerable. For all its failings, we do still have a welfare state. A safety net is still set out beneath us, although the corners are becoming threadbare. But can we say the same about social housing?

"Faced with cuts to government welfare reform, the housing sector now stands accused of capitulating to government whims at significant cost to them and, more importantly, to their tenants. According to the Child Poverty Action Group, 'affordable rent' (which in some areas is replacing social rent) risks pushing more families below the child poverty threshold."

1976: Brent Cross opens, partly financed by London's organised crime. 2016: "Brent Cross kicks off 40th anniversary year by welcoming trio of new brands"

---

"Hammerson and Standard Life Investments UK Shopping Centre Trust, joint owners of Brent Cross Shopping Centre, today announce that they have signed up international brands, Urban Decay, Tesla Motors and Smiggle, to join the line-up of retailers at the centre.

"Urban Decay, the leading international make-up brand offering its trend-setting lip, face, body & eye makeup, has signed up to a 399 sq ft unit located next to Kurt Geiger, and is opening its doors today. The signing is a significant move for the brand, becoming only its second standalone store in London.

"Following a successful temporary popup in Brent Cross, Californian based Tesla Motors, the designer and manufacturer of premium electric vehicles, has made the decision to take a permanent 2,060 sq ft unit in the centre. The brand launched its popup store in November 2014, as it looked to build its presence in the UK market by capitalising on consumers’ preference for experiential shopping and interacting with products before buying, and this proved very successful. The new store, which is expected to open in the spring, will become Tesla’s third in London.

"Smiggle, with its range of colourful, fun, fashion-forward stationery, has taken a 768 sq ft unit situated next to Lush in the upper level of the centre. Already a key part of the tenant mix in a number of Hammerson’s 10 UK leading retail destinations and Standard Life Investments’ shopping centres, Smiggle is set to open later this year and will be a popular addition to the centre's diverse line-up of retailer [sic]

"Conrad Bacon, Assistant Director of Retail Asset Management at Hammerson, said:

"These latest signings demonstrate Brent Cross Shopping Centre's continuing ability to attract high-quality international brands. Tesla in particular is a great example of the strength of our commercial approach – and the strength of the location. Now in its fortieth year, the centre continues to be seen as a gateway for international retailers entering the UK."

"Ed Jenkins, Head of UK Retail at Standard Life Investments, added:

"Innovation and insight have always underpinned the way we manage Brent Cross. This is what keeps the centre attractive to new retailers, such as Tesla Motors, Urban Decay and Smiggle, and fresh and exciting for customers."

BBC Newsnight: Barnet's High-Rise Aim: Because it's 'economic growth' and will house the 'strivers'

Barnet Press (x2) and Barnet Times (x2): Brent Cross corruption, plus Car Crisis in Barnet

The Guardian: "Is Britain a nation of debt bingers? History tells a different story"

Tap the piggy bank for web site

"... Debt still attracts easy moralising and apocalyptic warnings, but it always has to be considered alongside one's income and assets. It may be prudent for a young family to borrow, if they reckon their wages will go up over the next few years. As author Frank Trentmann shows, the golden age of credit in America and Britain was in the postwar decades, when both economies were growing fast and workers were seeing their pay rise year on year.

"However – and this is beyond the purview of the historian - that is not the case in either country today. Instead, the debt being taken out is being taken out on promises of growth that modern capitalism cannot deliver.

"Encouraged by their governments, households in the UK and the US are now using their homes as cash machines. Using official statistics, the Centre for Research into Socio-Cultural Change has found that the value of home equity withdrawal under both Thatcher and Blair exceeded the value of GDP growth during their time in power. The two losing incumbents of the past 20 years, Major and Brown, both saw housing equity withdrawal slump on their watch.

"That simple observation holds the key to explaining the post-79 era in British politics. How do you win an election? Inflate the property market. How do you mimic economic growth? Encourage housing equity withdrawal."

London Assembly: "Up or Out: A false choice. Options for London’s growth"

Date published:
29 January 2016

"The London Assembly Planning Committee has today warned that the next Mayor must start planning for London’s future from the day they collect the keys to City Hall.

" 'Up or Out: A false choice. Options for London’s growth' outlines a menu of options for accommodating London's growth. It considers approaches such as increasing the density of some parts of suburbs, regenerating estates, and building new and expanded towns outside London's boundaries.

It also explores different - but complementary - approaches for meeting this growth:

Up – are more skyscrapers and modern towers set to define our skyline?

Out – can we build to a higher density in outer London while preserving our green spaces?

up_or_out_report[1]

RELATED (joint developer with Argent of Brent Cross from phase two) takes half share in POCKET (attempted developer of Cricklewood Green Space). WORRYING.

"One of the largest real estate firms in the US has taken a 50% share in a London-based affordable homes company to help drive a massive expansion of its development," reports Inside Housing.

"Related Companies has bought a share in Pocket Living for an undisclosed sum and plans to throw its substantial weight into scaling up the construction of discounted flats for sale and rent in London.

"Related, which began life as an affordable housing provider in 1973, has $20bn of real estate assets worldwide has been plotting expansion into the London affordable housing market for several years.

"It agreed a joint venture with Argent, one of the UK’s leading mixed-use regeneration firms last year and is engaged on key sites in Kings Cross and Brent through that company.

"This is likely to provide Pocket with access to major regeneration schemes to provide its flagship homeownership products, compact flats which are sold at a 20% discount to buyers earning less than £71,000.

"Pocket has developed 200 homes in its 10 year life, typically agreeing deals with local authorities for use of land and reductions in planning obligations

"It intends to double this in the next 18 months and step up its provision of rental homes in central London with Related’s assistance.

"Kenneth Wong, chief operating officer at Related, will join Pocket’s board under the deal. Mr Wong was previously president of Westfield America, and has also served as president of the Disney development Company.

"Mr Wong said:

"We have ambitious plans in London, and Pocket is a perfect strategic fit with our ongoing initiatives."

"He said the capacity and ambition of Related to boost Pocket’s development was 'unlimited'.

"Related has major developments in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Florida, Abu Dhabi, Sao Paulo and Shanghai. Its regeneration of the Hudson Yards in New York will see 16 skyscrapers and 1.2m square feet of office residential and retail space built in one of the largest construction projects in the world.

"Its founder and president Stephen Ross is one of America’s most well known billionaires, and owns American football franchise the Miami Dolphins. Pocket has previously been funded through a Greater London Authority loan of £26.4m, crowdfunding bonds and bank finance. The financial capacity provided by Related will therefore hugely increase Pocket’s capacity to take on larger and more ambitious schemes

"It hopes to build 4,000 homes by 2023, and it aiming to increase its development to 700 homes per year which would put it among the largest developers of discounted rented housing. Marc Vlessing, chief executive of Pocket, said:

"This transaction is a huge vote of confidence in Pocket."

The Observer: "If having more no longer satisfies us, perhaps we’ve reached 'peak stuff'"

"Real economists don't ask questions about happiness. The economy pumps out goods and services, all of which create jobs and incomes. There is no value judgment in such a statement, no view of what constitutes the good life."

Link to web site

"There is a quest for meaning, aided and abetted by the knowledge and information revolutions, that is not answered by traditionally scale-produced goods and services. Economist Tomas Sedlacek, who has won an international following for his book Economics of Good and Evil, insists that contemporary societies have become slaves to a defunct economistic view of the world.

"When western societies were poorer, it was reasonable for economics to focus on how to produce more stuff – that was what societies wanted. Now, the question is Aristotelian: how to live a happy life – or 'humanomics', as Sedlacek calls it. Aristotle was clear: happiness results from deploying our human intelligence to act creatively on nature. To inquire and successfully to quest for understanding is the root of happiness.

"Yet most people today, says Sedlacek, work in jobs they do not much like, to buy goods they do not much value – the opposite of any idea of the good life, Aristotelian or otherwise. What we want is purpose and a sense of continual self-betterment, which is not served by buying another iPhone, wardrobe or a kitchen."

[Reposted] Back to the Future: Just an expansion of a shopping centre

1996

2013

Accurate Brent Cross Masterplan? No! Allies & Morrison's image forgets the southern parts of what became Barnet's corrupt planning consent!

(2016: now a dead link!)

"The Brent Cross masterplan presents a vision for a sustainable town centre. The key location of this brownfield site, which straddles the North Circular ring road, supports its potential as a major urban centre for northwest London, creating a gateway to the city from the M1. [Meaning: Come by car!]

"The mixed-use development provides business and residential expansion, recreation facilities and retail opportunities, underpinned by improved public transport connections. Sensitive to its context, the development creates clustered tall buildings as landmarks on the skyline, interspersed with smaller scale buildings and generous open spaces." [It also includes - on the same planning application - a 5-storey building on Cricklewood Lane.]

The Globe and Mail: "Ambitious plans and political will: This is cycling’s pivotal moment in Toronto"

Link to web site

"So when it comes to cycling infrastructure, why is Toronto so far behind cities such Montreal, which is notably colder?

One historic factor was a fight within the cycling community. As Montreal was building separated bicycle lanes, activists in Toronto were more likely to call for sharing the road. The thinking of so-called vehicular cyclists – who believe that bicycles should take their place on the road amid other vehicles – was influential for a long time in much of North America. But the tide finally began turning in Toronto and in other cities.

" 'Recently, very recently, a lot of planners and advocates changed their mind and realized [separated lanes were] an option to look at seriously,' Jean-François Provonost, a vice-president with the advocacy group Vélo Québec, said in an interview last summer in Montreal, in a café beside one of the city's successful bikes lanes. 'If we want to have dedicated spaces for cyclists, this is probably the way to go.'

"The research backs him up. Studies find that a minority of people will never ride a bicycle, no matter what facilities are built. A smaller group will ride in any conditions. But the majority of people remain in the middle. They are prospective riders – as long as they can feel safe."

Broken Barnet: "The Last Betrayal, or - the breaking of West Hendon, and the making of a latter day myth: 'sink estates' ... "

(West Hendon shares its 2005 LB of Barnet 'Supplementary Planning Guidance' with Brent Cross Cricklewood.)

Link to Mrs Angry

"I've lost count, now, of the number of posts I've written about West Hendon, and the eviction of a community from the place they call home, down there, by the waterfront, on the edge of the Welsh Harp.

"The residents of West Hendon call it home: or they did, but the local Tory councillors see the place where they live as not a community, but a business opportunity, and under the pretext of 'regeneration', and despite a promise to residents of a better housing on the same site, handed the publicly-owned land to Barratt London for a private, luxury high-rise property development.

"The land was worth £12 million, but was given to developers for £3, so as to allow them to maximise profits on their investment, conservatively estimated last year at a mere £92 million."

---

Hammerson announces new Brent Cross parking layout

The Observer: "Boris Johnson has led cheerleading for the global super-wealthy as they buy up London's best housing, says damning report"

Link to web site

"... The research, part of a series of papers studying areas collectively described as the 'alpha territory', blames the shortage of affordable housing in the capital on three factors.

First, the ruling political class is compliant towards the super-rich and distanced not only from the housing conditions of the poor but also the middle classes, who now feel displaced by the global uber-wealthy.

Second, the government’s welfare cuts have been used to make prime neighbourhoods more attractive to rich foreign investors, 'as tenants and low-income households are priced out of spaces previously reserved for them by the state'.

Third, the unregulated private housing market 'disadvantages those who are already struggling to survive its excesses'."

Wed 27 Jan: Argent's (yes, ARGENT'S) Brent Cross Planning Application 15/06518/RMA - Roads around the Living Hell Bridge

"Arup has been commissioned by Argent (Property Development)Services LLP to provide transport and highways advice in support of an application for highways infrastructure for Brent Cross South Phase 1A (South).

"The proposals for Phase 1A (South) comprise two sections of highway designated as the eastern end of Claremont Park Road from the junction with Claremont Avenue (Claremont Park Road (Part 1)), and the western end of School Lane from the junction with Claremont Avenue to Claremont Road. Both of these roads tie into highways infrastructure addressed under BXC Phase 1A (North), and as such the proposals here are intended to complement those of Phase 1A (North). No plot development is to be brought forward under Phase 1A (South), and as such no assessment of trips has been undertaken.

"... Overall, the proposals for BXS Phase 1A (South) are in line with the wider constraints and design guidance under the BXC scheme and the more local constraints arising from the proposals of Phase 1A (North). As no plot development is proposed under Phase 1A (South), it is considered that, with the exception of the Pedestrian and Cycle Strategy submitted alongside this RMTR, there is no additional requirement for strategy documents relating to travel planning and construction management."

"... The Living Bridge is also proposed to replace the existing footbridge across the A406, providing a shared pedestrian and cycle linkage to the north of the BXC site. Proposals under Phase 1A (South) connect to the southern end of the Living Bridge as well as into facilities on Claremont Avenue under Phase 1A (North)."

2016-01-27 15_06518_RMA-EXPLANATORY_REPORT_PART_3-3201786

2016-01-27 15_06518_RMA-EXPLANATORY_REPORT_PART_4-3201787

15/06518/RMA

Planning Committee

Barnet Press: Councillor Dean Cohen: 'Barnet Car Crisis?'

---

Link to 'Barnet Car Crisis'

Argent: Picking over the ashes of the corrupt LB of Barnet 2010 planning consent...

"Argent has announced a shake-up of its senior management team, after three of its senior partners, including construction supremo Tony Giddings, left the business.

"Former partners Jim Prower and Tony Giddings have retired, and Roger Madelin has taken a new job at British Land, leading to the appointment of two new partners and four directors from within the company.

"Phil Sullivan will take charge of construction following Giddings’ departure as construction director,

"Michael Lightbound, already a partner at the firm, becomes finance partner and two senior project directors, Anna Strongman and Will Colthorpe, become partners.

"Strongman will oversee all estate management, property management and regeneration initiatives at King’s Cross, and contribute to the strategies for Argent’s Brent Cross South and Tottenham Hale sites.

"Colthorpe will be responsible for the office and hotel developments at King’s Cross, leading teams delivering design, procurement and leasing activities.

"In addition Rob Groves becomes regional director, Phil Tait becomes programme director and Steve Alderson becomes marketing director."

Providing no transport need whatsoever: The site of Hammerson's and the London Borough of Barnet's "Living Hell Bridge"

"Address: North Circular Road, Brent Cross, London NW9"

"This street location is on the Transport for London network. Any filming on the road, bridges or footways that run alongside, over, or under it, is under TfL's jurisdiction."

Reel Film Locations Ltd. [gettit?]

[Reposted] An example of how to do community planning (instead of the corrupt methods of the London Borough of Barnet)

2016-01 Old Oak and Park Royal Dec 2015 Community Charrette Short Report

Barnet Press: Andrew Dismore AM: Brent Cross, the Living (Hell) Bridge, and Whitefields Homes

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."

---

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.'"

---

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'.)