The 'North and West London Orbital Railway' Song

Link to Transport Page.

'Planning': "Dreaming the Impossible: Unbuilt Britain." (Does that mean this is about Brian Reynolds's unsustainable carbuncle on the North Circular Road?)

Link to web site

"BBC4 continues its work to single-handedly justify the license fee with a new series on great British building projects that never were. The three-part series, 'Dreaming the Impossible: Unbuilt Britain', starts on Monday 12 August at 9pm with an episode titled 'Glass Houses'.

"According to the BBC, the programme will look at projects including designer Sir Joseph Paxton’s 1855 [not 1885] proposal to build a 'fantastic, futuristic ten-mile glass girdle'."

---

IanVisits: "Victorian plans to encircle London with a Crystalline Railway"

Link to web site

"Its primary function was to relieve the congestion of the roads, the railway was but a small part of the proposed structure which would have included shops, housing and a private road running alongside the railways.

"Sir Joe claimed to have the support of Prince Albert for his Girdle around London, but Parliament was not impressed. The Daily Telegraph was not entirely convinced either: 'We must protest against being disturbed in our slumbers by a whistle and a roar overhead'."

---

BBC4 web site:

"Using her investigative skills to uncover long-forgotten and abandoned plans, architectural investigator Dr Olivia Horsfall Turner explores the fascinating and dramatic stories behind some of the grandest designs that were never built.

"Technology has always been a driving force behind new ideas. Olivia explores how architects and designers have been inspired by the exciting possibilities presented by new technology to produce groundbreaking and controversial urban plans.

"In 1855, visionary designer Sir Joseph Paxton proposed an ambitious plan to build a fantastic, futuristic ten-mile glass girdle circling the centre of London. It had only recently become possible to produce large sheets of cheap but strong plate glass and Paxton was inspired by its potential. With this exciting new technology at his fingertips, Paxton believed he could create a bright and pollution-free environment for Londoners as well as solve the capital's terrible congestion problems. 

"His spectacular glass 'Great Victorian Way' would connect the city to the West End, link rich and poor areas and cross the Thames three times. Contained in this magnificent glass structure were shops, houses, hotels, a pedestrian walkway, a road for carriages and eight lines of elevated pneumatic railway. 

"There was huge support for Paxton's scheme and Parliament passed a bill sanctioning construction, but the Great Victorian Way was never built. The 'Great Stink' took hold of London in 1858, spreading a cholera epidemic and so sanitation became the city's most pressing priority. Instead of creating a spectacular crystal boulevard the money was spent on a very different type of technology - the building of London's sewerage system.

"A century later, London's congestion problems remained unsolved with the motor car having taken over roads designed for horse and carriage. In 1961, the architect Geoffrey Jellicoe proposed a solution directly inspired by Joseph Paxton's use of glass, in his radical new urban scheme for the green belt around London. Jellicoe took Paxton's idea of transforming the transport infrastructure even further, proposing a 'glass city' in which all cars would drive along rooftops, freeing the ground below for pedestrians.

"With both these groundbreaking designs, Paxton and Jellicoe were seeking to harness technology to create bright and light cities, free of pollution and congestion, and utilising the most progressive forms of transport of the day."

Contributors include: Brett Steele, Eric Kuhne, Kate Colquhoun, Isobel Armstrong, Theodora Wayte, Lord Norman Foster, Charlie Burke, David Martlew, John Minnis, Hal Moggridge, Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe and Kathryn Moore. [Presumably Hammerson was asked, but declined.]

Shopping Centre car crash delay (cf. BRENT CROSS: an enviromentally-unsustainable car crash)

Link to web site

"Ann Ducker, leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, said last week an announcement about Didcot’s Orchard shopping centre would be made by the end of the month.

But this week she said it would have to be delayed by one month – because a car crash that closed the M40 meant South Oxfordshire District Council representatives missed a meeting with developers Hammerson." [Er, that's it really.]

---

Croydon Today:
"Westfield and Hammerson development
delayed over traffic concerns"

Navin Shah, AM for Brent & Harrow: "Boris signs off the 'destruction' of Welsh Harp"

"The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has ignored the concerns of local residents regarding Barnet Council’s West Hendon Planning Application, despite strong objections. The development launched by Barrett Homes is set to build 2000 new dwelling units, including four large tower blocks next door to Welsh Harp, one of London’s biggest and most significant nature reserves. 

"Residents and campaigners are concerned that this development will destroy permanently the natural landscape which contains a wildfowl reserve and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

"A cross-party joint letter from Brent and Barnet campaigners was issued to the Mayor detailing their concerns regarding the planning application asking him to reject the application. London Assembly Navin Shah AM said:

"This is an outrageous decision by the Mayor of London which will obliterate the beautiful landscape, tranquility and ecological values of a site which should be protected for its special scientific interest. The Mayor has ignored the policies of his own London Plan and given Barnet Council the green light to vandalise this site of it’s great value.

340 people have written to the Mayor asking him to refuse this application. Furthermore, there has also been a submission of two petitions that have been signed by 987 people. It is disgraceful that the Mayor has yet again refused to listen to local communities in Brent and Barnet. People will never forgive him for signing off the destruction of this site."

Barnet Times, Barnet Press (x2), and Brent & Kilburn Times

(Under construction)

[NOW IN COLOUR, AND READABLE!] Comment to LB of Barnet by 14 Aug: Brent Cross: The Slide to Unsustainable Mediocrity (but then, we're biased)

BXC developers likely to submit Section 73 planning application on:

17 September 2013

for Planning Committee rubber stamp on: 

18th December 2013

(Merry Christmas!)

Meanwhile ...
LB of Barnet: ref: F/03027/13
(Environmental Impact Assessment)

EIA for Section 73

Sustrans: "Transport doesn’t need an engine, to be an engine for growth"

Link to web site

"The recently published 'Transport – An Engine for Growth' sets out the strategic context to last month’s Spending Review, in which Chancellor George Osborne announced “the largest programme of investment in roads in half a century”.

"Further detail included 221 new lane miles on our busiest roads and a host of major road projects.

"As the introduction admits, 'it has always been easier for transport planners to make the case for joined up planning than to make it happen in practice'. The document raises more questions about the government’s transport priorities than it answers."

---

Link to Daily Telegraph

"Jeremy Clarkson causes outrage
after blowing up Routemaster"

---

Transport for Growth summary

Westfield White City: The Verdict

"Westfield London opened in October 2008 on a 45 acre site in Shepherds Bush. At the time of completion it was the largest inner city shopping centre in Europe and the development included provision of the new Wood Lane tube station, an overground station, bus terminus and the refurbishment of Shepherds Bush station.

"The Centre offers 1.6 million sq ft of retail space with nearly 400 shops and 69 eateries. It attracts over 2 million visitors per month and supports approximately 8,000 jobs. Planning consent was obtained in March 2012 to deliver a further 600,000 sq ft of retail and leisure expansion and over 1,500 new homes.

"This report, commissioned at the request of the Select Committee, sets out to provide a summary of the impact of Westfield on the Borough across a range of issues including crime and disorder, transport, licensing, littering and street cleaning and the local economy." [More than Barnet has ever done.]

Travel predictions

"There were two significant planning applications (1997 and 2006) that assessed how visitors would travel to Westfield. The first predicted 47% would drive based on other local retail offers and the second 42% based on car ownership and traffic trends across London. The table below shows the modal split of the two predictions against the actual travel modes based on a shopper survey in 2010.

New Transport Infrastructure

"There was a significant amount of transport infrastructure delivered through section 106 agreements as part of numerous planning applications to meet the predicted demand generated from the development. Below is a summary of the infrastructure delivered by both the Council, TfL and Westfield totalling over £100m:

• Shepherds Bush tube station upgrade and new station at Wood Lane
• new overground station at Shepherds Bush and service enhancements
• two new bus stations (norther and southern interchange)
• new bus routes, route extensions and service enhancements
• local junction improvements
• local streetscape improvements
• 500+ cycle parking spaces

The public transport improvements have been very successful with continuing and substantial increases in patronage. This is considered to be one of the many factors that has led to actual car mode share being lower than that predicted."

Westfield - A High Level Impact Assessment

Daily Telegraph: "Plans to rebuild London riots furniture shop abandoned"

Link to web site

"The owners of the furniture shop which burnt down in the London riots have given up on plans to rebuild the site as they complain Croydon still bears the scars of the attacks on the second anniversary of the disorder.

"Graham Reeves, who helps run the family business, ... has returned their lease to The Whitgift Foundation, who own the remaining area where the shop once stood, as the majority site owners refused to rebuild.

"Mr Reeves said that said that The Whitgift Foundation are reluctant to redevelop the furniture shop until wider plans for the area are in place, as the roads and area surrounding Reeves Corner are expected to change thanks to a £1bn joint venture from retail developers Westfield and Hammerson to transform Croydon town centre."

[Updated] Mail on Sunday: "Save the High Street by turning ailing shops into affordable homes, says planning minister"

Link to web site

"A relaxation of planning rules could see town centre shops converted into homes, as ministers accept that the thriving high streets of the past are unlikely to return.

"Rather than seeking to revive every street of boarded-up shops, planning minister Nick Boles suggested that councils should concentrate retail outlets in 'prime' locations and allow other areas to become residential.

"Following a report by retail guru Mary Portas, who was hired by David Cameron to find a way of reviving dying town centres, some £1.2million of taxpayer money was shared out between 12 towns for initiatives to inject new life into their traditional shopping high streets.

"But her key recommendations, which included cutting business rates and putting a brake on new shopping centres, have both been rejected."

---

Link to Sunday Times (full story needs subscription):

"Minister: Turn high street into home"

"In a policy that could change the face of town centres across England,
the government wants councils to concentrate their efforts on revitalising
shopping in struggling areas on just one or two 'prime' streets.

"The proposed relaxation in planning restrictions on converting
retail premises into private housing could mean terraces of shops
being turned into housing. Long high streets could be shortened."

---

Link to Daily Telegraph:

"Traditional high street is dead, says minister"

"Mary Portas, asked by the PM to come up with a plan to save
the high street two years ago, said this weekend that housing should
only be part of the solution, along with schools, health centres and meeting places.

... One industry insider said a minister had told them recently the high street
was beyond saving. Around 14 per cent of high street shops are empty
or boarded up after the credit crisis ripped through the retail sector."

"The wheels on the bus go round and round...": Brent Cross Bus Map (The buses MOVE, although congestion-free!)

(Click above, and be amazed)

The 326, to Hendon Town Hall

The Guardian: "London's world status and house price boom is now hurting the middle class"

"Gentrification has adopted an exaggerated and accelerated form in the capital, hurting communities from Brixton to Belgravia"

Link to web site

"... What's causing the seemingly endless rise in London's property costs, and how long can it continue?

"Analysts stress the importance of buy-to-let investors and overseas buyers, often in combination – many new developments are snapped up by foreign buyers. However, they stress that the totemic figure of the overseas tycoon acquiring a Belgravia mansion to keep empty is actually quite rare: of 35,000 recent 'prime' purchases analysed by Savills, only 770 were non-primary residences for non-Britons.

"According to Henry Pryor, a property consultant, London's property market is, technically, in a bubble, as many people buy homes to rent out at yields well below the 6% net rate of return investment rule of thumb. He says:

"They are openly betting that the property will increase in capital value. And that's a big assumption."

"Others disagree, saying London's unique position makes its market trajectory more similar to cities such as New York and Paris rather than, say, Birmingham.

"Professor Danny Dorling from Sheffield University argues that, while the timing is uncertain, the course of events is not:

"We're in a bubble. It looks like a bubble, it feels like a bubble. It's the enormous bubble in the room. The great thing about bubbles is, it could be this autumn, it could be 20 years' time.

It's like playing roulette: we haven't hit the nought yet but we know we will at some point."

---

Stella Creasy MP on the
gentrification of Walthamstow - video

Barnet Press, and Brent & Kilburn Times

Sheffield Telegraph: "Eight years on, shops saga looks for new chapter" (At Brent Cross that would be "Seventeen years on, ...")

Link to web site

"...Unable to persuade Hammerson to press the button, despite the firm’s investment in terms of eight years of planning, negotiation, utility relocation and land assembly that has cost several millions of pounds, the council said it would look elsewhere. [Actually, south of the North Circular, that applies to the dysfunctional London Borough of Barnet!]

"Hammerson said it was unable to give a firm commitment at this stage because of other priorities across the UK and internationally. It is working on projects in Leeds, Brent Cross in London and Croydon that it believes will generate better returns.

"Announcing its latest financial statement this week, the company reflected on an expensive scheme drawn up pre-recession and pointed to the dominance of Meadowhall." [Westfield]

The future of the Whitefield estate? Evening Standard: "Residents of the Heygate estate forced to move out of London"

Link to web site

"Dozens of residents of the Heygate estate have been forced out to locations as far away as Slough and St Albans, it has been revealed.

"Homeowners say the offers they received for their flats, after the Elephant and Castle site was sold to Australian giant Lend Lease, did not cover buying locally. At the same time, it is marketing homes there in China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore that have yet to be built.

"It comes as the last two remaining residents on the estate are due to be moved within weeks, with the council warning that it may resort to using bailiffs."

Evening Standard: "London building projects stall as confidence and investment drop"

Link to web site

"Low confidence and falling public investment are limiting output and job creation in the capital’s construction sector, the London Assembly has warned.

"... The report notes that amid a severe housing crisis, the capital has planning permission for 210,000 new homes. But they are not being built for a variety of reasons, including a large number of sites owned by 'non-builders', and smaller firms experiencing difficulties obtaining funding.

The Assembly’s economy committee heard that 45 per cent of sites with planning permission are owned by investors, foreign interests and the public sector."

---

---

Link to PDF file

---

Evening Standard Property:
"The Shard has developer on a high"

London Councils: "£350 million price tag of London’s 7,000 empty shops"

Link to PDF file

"The capital has almost 7,000 vacant shops, costing the London economy £350 million in lost trade and earnings, a new study has revealed.

'Streets Ahead', produced by London Councils, which represents the capital’s 33 local authorities, looks at the capital’s high streets and makes a range of recommendations to improve the local economy.

The study calls for the government to grant councils more powers to curb betting shops, payday lenders and fried food outlets, which can damage high streets. It shows that devolving more powers to councils would help stimulate growth and new jobs.

Dianna Neal, Head of Economy, Culture and Tourism at London Councils said:

“The study’s findings highlight the need for the radical devolution of power and resources to councils to help businesses adapt to a changed consumer environment.

The government could halt further decline by devolving powers to councils to support high streets, such as the ability to stop the damaging spread of betting shops, payday lenders and fried food outlets.”

Boroughs currently do not have the power to control retail outlets which can deter visitors and also have damaging wider social effects, adding to obesity, gambling addiction and serious debt. Recent changes have also made it easier to turn offices into residential units, also undermining growth and local decision making.

The study features a number of innovative case studies as to how boroughs are supporting their local high streets. For example:

• The London Borough of Harrow Inward Investment Strategy team has worked with banks and property agents to develop investment guides to its local district centres, highlighting local demographics and available properties. The average vacancy rate for retail frontages in town centres across the borough has fallen for the second year running from a high of 7.5 per cent in 2009/10 to 6.5 per cent in 2011/12
• The London Borough of Sutton developed a ‘meanwhile lease’ for previously vacant units. This provides an industry standard legal instrument to minimise administrative and legal costs for both landlords and tenants and to enable temporary occupation to take place without the need for lengthy legal procedures, encouraging new enterprises and bringing innovation and creativity back to the high street.

Dianna Neal added:

“Councils are already innovating, but giving boroughs additional powers and resources would go a long way in really creating the conditions for high streets to succeed – creating much-needed jobs."

The Observer: Radical design for Hammerson's new North Circular Road pedestrian bridge

The North Circular Road is not a waterway?
It is sometimes!

"This is not quite at the same scale as great bridge precedents, but it has the same idea – that a bridge is a place, not equipment. It includes on its steel forms a curved array of seating, south-facing and wind-sheltered, like a seaside esplanade.

"The new Scale Lane bridge in Hull has a restaurant (unfortunately untenanted) and a raised circular platform for enjoying the view. You can take two routes around it, one stepped and the other ramped, and it flows from a section of land-based street relandscaped as a series of 'garden rooms'.

"Scale Lane bridge is not just a way of getting from A to B, but something in itself. It's not a gleaming white rebuke to its industrial surroundings but – robust and black – an extension of a place where, as one of the bridge's architects says: 'Even the mud is beautiful'."

[Roposted] Goofy in 'Motor Mania' on the North Circular Road, the A1, the A41,... (1950)

Cycling on Western Avenue

North Circular Road incident

'Unfinished London' videos

London Borough of Barnet Planning Department put on the special measures Naughty Step by Secretary of State Eric Pickles

Image for sale: Liberty Galleries

Link to 'Planning & Regeneration'

web site

"The Department for Communities and Local Government has revealed the identities of more than a dozen district councils which face being placed in 'special measures' for taking too long to determine major applications.

"According to the department’s interim figures, based on performance between July 2011 and March 2013, 10 district councils are in line to be placed in special measures on the basis of making fewer than 30 per cent of major applications within 13 weeks.

These are: Halton, Barnet, North East Derbyshire, Tandridge, Cherwell, Lambeth, Fylde, Daventry, Horsham and Blaby. They must improve their performance in the final quarter of the two-year period to escape a special measures designation."

Evening Standard

Brent LibDems say: "Battle against Barnet’s Welsh Harp towers is not over"

(Number 2 of 2 today)

"Dollis Hill’s Liberal Democrat councillors have pledged to continue their efforts to block 2,000 new flats being built on the Brent boundary overlooking the Welsh Harp, including a massive 29-storey tower.

"Councillor Javaid Ashraf spoke on behalf of concerned residents at last Tuesday’s (23 July) Barnet Council Planning Committee meetings, when he was loudly applauded by people attending the meeting. Despite overwhelming opposition, the controversial application was narrowly approved by Barnet councillors. The application has now been referred to the Mayor of London who has one more week to decide whether to intervene.

"Councillor Ashraf has written to the Mayor of London asking him to overturn Barnet Council’s decision because the planning application contravenes London Plan policies and will harm Brent residents.

"Councillor Ashraf said:

“If built, these tower blocks will dominate the skyline across Welsh Harp and could damage the wildlife and amenity for residents. Barnet councillors were presented with many good reasons to reject the planning ahead but once again decided to load yet more development on the Brent boundary. The Mayor of London now has one final chance to make the right decision.”

"Fellow Liberal Democrat councillor for Dollis Hill, Councillor Alison Hopkins added:

“This decision comes hot on the heels of Barnet agreeing to cram flats onto the old Parcel Force site and working to promote the devastating Brent Cross Cricklewood plans. It’s time the Mayor of London stepped in to prevent Barnet councillors riding roughshod over the interests of Brent residents.”

"Councillor Hopkins is also vice-chair of the Welsh Harp Joint Consultative Committee, which agreed last week to write to the Mayor of London to express its concern. The committee comprises councillors from both sides of the Brent / Barnet boundary, along with representatives from local conservation and residents’ groups."

(That's enough LibDem press releases. Ed.)

SHOP AT BRENT CROSS SHOPPING CENTRE!: The Guardian: "Retailers urged to take Bangladesh safety deal further"

Link to web site

"Workers rights groups are calling on retailers to use a legally binding deal to improve safety for clothes factory workers in Bangladesh as a blueprint for tackling similar problems elsewhere.

"IndustriALL, the international union group which is backing the deal between textile workers and more than 70 retailers to tackle fire safety and building security in Bangladesh, said it had already begun work to build a similar agreement in Pakistan. It comes amid evidence that workers in Pakistan and China face greater workplace risks than those in Bangladesh.

"Retailers including Primark, Marks & Spencer and H&M agreed to independent factory inspections and action to improve manufacturers' buildings in Bangladesh, after the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in April killed more than 1,100 people."

---

"New direction needed to
lead us out of Wongaland"
(Link to The Guardian)

"Eminent economists have been struggling to explain why output per worker is now lower than it was before the start of the recession. Dick Sargent, in a piece for the journal Economic Affairs, comes up with one simple explanation: labour is cheap and capital is expensive. The financial crisis made the banks much more cautious about lending, and this, combined with a lack of demand from firms in want of 'animal spirits', has led to the decline in business investment.

"At the same time, workers have been taking cuts in real (inflation-adjusted) wages, so employers have been able to generate the same level of output by using less capital and more labour. There was a slowdown in the growth rate of capital per employee, which led to a slowdown in the rate of output per employee.

"... Where do we go from here? Option one is the free-market right's new 'alternative economic strategy': lower taxes, a smaller state, less red tape, liberalisation of planning. Option two is a new AES for the left: national investment bank, Green New Deal, activist industrial and regional policy. Option three is to accept that this is as good as it gets."

"Dollis Hill LibDem councillors demand details of Brent Labour Leader’s private talks with Brent Cross developers"

"Barnet Council papers obtained by Dollis Hill Liberal Democrat councillor Alison Hopkins reveal that top Brent Labour councillors have held ‘friendly’ discussions with the developers behind the highly controversial Brent Cross Cricklewood plans, which could bring thousands more cars onto the streets of Brent.

"Internal Barnet Council emails, released as a result of a Freedom of Information request, show:

• Labour Leader Councillor Muhammed Butt and Lead Member for Regeneration and Projects Councillor George Crane, accompanied by Director of Regeneration and Major Projects Andy Donald, met the promoters of the massive scheme on Thursday 27 June 

• According to the notes of the meeting:
  • The developers received a 'very friendly general reception'
  • Labour councillors’ attitude was that there were 'no fundamental problems'
  • Cllr Butt and Cllr Crane were 'pretty impressed' but might respond to major pressure from residents on the waste issue 'for political reasons'
  • There is no resolution yet to the waste issue.

"The 'Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood' has consistently campaigned against the current scheme – which includes a waste plant on the A5 close to residents and would hugely increase traffic in the area – and in favour of a sustainable approach to regeneration that puts residents first and improves public transport links.

"The previous Brent Cross Cricklewood planning application was unanimously rejected by Brent Council’s planning committee when the Liberal Democrats led the council, after Brent's council officers recommended refusal.

"Councillor Alison Hopkins, who is a founder member of the Coalition, says:

“The proposals have not materially changed since Brent Council opposed the previous planning application.

It’s not acceptable for the leader of Brent Council to conduct hole-and-corner discussions with the developers, while they try to pull the wool over local people’s eyes about what their plans actually mean. It’s clear from these private papers that residents are still at risk from the massive uncertainty over the waste plant plans.

Muhammed Butt and the developers should come clean about the impact of these proposals on Brent residents.”

Does Hammerson's 'LONDON COMMUNICATIONS AGENCY' have a public relations problem? (They could always hire a proper PR agency)

Link to BBC web site

"...The deluge of badly-written press releases, silly events and photo stunts, 'news stories' without news value, and meaningless 'campaigns' have come to irk journalists, and bore an increasingly cynical general public.

Link to 'Barnet Eye'

"If anything, it will be the changing nature of the media that will fundamentally alter the PR industry, weeding-out the hapless and the disingenuous. [Told you this was about 'London Communications Agency'.]

LCA internal discipline

"While some old school PR cliches can work online - the clever photo, or an interesting interview - others, such as the tedious opinion poll-based news-in-briefs which clutter the pages of Monday newspapers, simply go nowhere."

The Observer: "Admit it, [Brent Cross Shopping Centre shopper]. You love cheap clothes. And you don't care about child slave labour"

Link to web site

"... Here is the shopper, agonising over ethical or cheap. What if they can do both? What if they can pluck two pairs of jeans off the rail and hold them up.
One costs

£20.00

One costs

£20.15 

It has a big label on it:

"I'm proud to pay 15p more for these jeans. I believe everyone has the right to a decent standard of living. My jeans were made by a happy worker who was paid the fair rate for the job."

"Go further. Stitch it on to the jeans themselves. I want those jeans.

"I want to know I'm not wearing something stitched by kids kept locked in backstreet godowns, never seeing the light of day, never getting a penny. I want to feel clean. And I want the big brands and the supermarkets to help me feel clean.

"I want people to say to them:

"You deceived us. You told us you were ethical. We want you to change. We want you to police your supply chain as if you care. Name your suppliers. Open them to independent inspection.

We want to trust you again, we really do, because we love your products. Know what? We don't mind paying a few pennies more if you promise to chip in too."

"And here's the best part: I think they would sell more. I think consumers would be happier and workers would be happier. And if I can spend less time trawling through fetid backstreets looking for the truth, I'll be happier."

Daily Telegraph: "Help to Buy risks new house price 'bubble', warns Cable"

"George Osborne's plan to offer Government guarantees for mortgages risks triggering another house price "bubble", the Business Secretary warns"

Link to web site

"Vince Cable said that the help-to-buy scheme unveiled in the Budget earlier this year could simply 'inflate' the housing market, as occurred in the last decade.

"From next year, first and second time buyers will be offered government guarantees which should allow them to obtain competitive mortgages even if they have relatively small deposits.

"... However, some economists and business leaders have voiced warnings about the scheme and Mr Cable – who previously warned about the dangerous levels of debt before the financial crisis - has now indicated he shares their concerns."

---

Link to web site

The Observer:
"Political cowardice stops us from solving our wretched housing crisis"

"The most desirable parts of London are out of reach for all except the world's super-rich. The taxation of property is stuck at 1991 values because no politician will entertain the political fallout of organising the council tax on proper, up-to-date valuations, let alone entertain introducing a rational system of property tax.

"Even the declared aims of policy are not being met. Owner occupation, despite universal invocations to its importance, is stagnating at around 15 million homes, falling as a proportion of total households to 64% – the lowest for 25 years. Fewer than half the homes in London are now owner occupied. Social housing is in gentle decline. Meanwhile, the private rented sector has nearly doubled over the last 15 years to 4 million homes.

"Indeed, in some local authorities, a third of former council houses, sold under right-to-buy legislation, are winding up, crazily, in the hands of buy-to-let landlords, who charge half as much rent again as the former local authority landlords.

"It is mad, mad, mad, yet much of Britain's economic structure and culture are invested in the madness. Around 60% of all UK bank lending is in residential mortgages, and most personal wealth is bound up with housing."

Navin Shah Slams Approval of Welsh Harp Planning Application (part of the Cricklewood, Brent Cross and West Hendon Development Framework area)

"Barnet Council on Tuesday 23rd July ignored strong objections from local residents to refuse the Welsh Harp planning application for demolition and redevelopment of West Hendon Estate.

"The committee room was packed with residents and representatives of stakeholder organisations, objecting to the ill-conceived and harmful planning scheme which would destroy this key site of major local, London and National importance. Prior to the meeting, demonstrators gathered outside the Town Hall for a rally

"London Assembly Member Navin Shah spoke for Brent residents when he addressed the planning committee and conveyed his strong objection to the application:

"This is an exceptional and most significant site of remarkable value, enjoyed and cherished by the people of Brent, Barnet and visitors. In summary, the proposed development will see nearly four-fold increase in the current population. The proposal constitutes gross over-development and it will destroy the SSSI quality, heritage and the value this site provides.

I have made a detail written submission OBJECTING to the scheme on material planning grounds, which I’d urge the planning committee to consider carefully. I’d like to highlight briefly some of the key issues.

• In my view, the scale of the development with 2,000 residential units together with commercial and community facilities is wholly inappropriate and unsustainable.
• The proposals for this SSSI site lack adequate research and evidence to demonstrate that the scale and design of the development can sustain and enhance the quality of nature conservation.
• Barnet’s Core Strategy justifies 8-20 storey blocks and London Plan justifies tall buildings in town centres and in major zones of economic development. In this context, the proposed 29, 27 and 21 high tower blocks are inappropriate. The built environment with tower blocks and the resultant bulk dominating the skyline will not be in keeping with the character of this area.
• Residential proposals have no relevance to the preferences of Barnet’s residents and to the Council and Mayor’s policies. Woefully small provision of 20 ‘houses’ (only 1% of total) and 290 Duplex Apartments for family size units make a mockery of Barnet’s Core Strategy. As to Socially rented housing, in my view, for a scheme of this scale a minimum of 40% and not 25% provision is required.
• I’d like to draw the attention of the committee on the flaws related to the Social Infrastructure proposals and my concerns about transport, parking and congestion expressed in my written submission. I beg the members to listen to the genuine concerns of residents and protect this site from destruction by refusing permission."

"The application would now go to London Mayor Boris Johnson, who can either wave through the scheme or direct Barnet Council to refuse it on planning rounds.

Add caption

"Speaking after the meeting Navin Shah - Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow - said:

"This shocking decision by Barnet Council will obliterate the beautiful landscape, tranquility and ecological values of a site which is supposed to be protected for its scientific interest.

On every single key issue like the density, urban design (height of blocks), housing, community facilities and transport and traffic, the application is seriously flawed and does not comply with Barnet nor London Mayor’s planning policies. 29 Storey tower block may be fine for Manhattan but spell total disaster for Welsh Harp.

Overdevelopment with four-fold increase of population and tower blocks on this site is a solution from hell – one that will vandalise this site of exceptional beauty and importance.

It is dreadful that Barnet Council has failed to listen to the local communities in Brent and Barnet and it’s equally disgraceful that the Mayor of London failed to raise concerns about this seriously flawed application during his Stage 1 examination.

The Mayor would now have a final say on this application and I will be lobbying him to reject this application. I urge residents and campaigners to press Mayor Johnson for refusal and save this significant spot of natural beauty from permanent destruction.”