Category: Campaigns

Further to our request to Andrew Carter for a meeting to discuss the future of the Car Parks and Concierges we can confirm that:

• A joint Task & Finish Group is being set up to seek ways of managing the Car Parks in a cost-effective manner whilst maintaining levels of service to residents. Once terms of reference for the T&F have been agreed we will share them on the website.
• A meeting to discuss the wider ramifications of the City’s cost saving proposals will be convened between the Chairs and their Deputies of the BA and RCC with Andrew Carter and officers and will take place in early September to allow attendees to return from their holidays.

Andrew Carter Chief Officer/Executive Director Community & Children’s Services has suggested opening parallel discussions with residents on the Corporation’s Plans to reduce the number of Car Park Attendants and close a car park.

The Barbican Association and the Residents Consultation Committee are working together on this and have responded as follows in the email below

Dear Andrew

Thank you for your request for potential suggestions for a parallel consultation with residents.

We are very keen to resolve what we see as two separate issues:

• The failure of the consultation process
• The Car Parks and the service provided by the CPAs

The Barbican Association and the Residents’ Consultation Committee are the two groups representing our residents and we are working together on this.

At first instance we, the respective chairs and our deputies, would like to meet with you, appropriate officers and the Chair of the BRC to discuss the first: what went wrong, how do we resolve it and what must we do to make sure this does not happen again?

With regard to the second we suggest that we set up a joint working party with no more than 10 members, to contribute rather than observe, to examine all the issues, from overcapacity, future use of the space, the role of CPA’s and their provision of services to residents. Its prime objective should be to save money whilst maintaining the amenity.

I know you are aware that a lot of heat has been generated over this. We need to reassure residents that we are seeking resolution to the problems by meeting with you as soon as is practicable. We hope, that in the interest of transparency, you would not object to us posting this letter on the Barbican Association Web site.

Adam Hogg Chair BA                     Christopher Makin Chair RCC

We will keep you informed on progress on this site.

Adam and Christopher

On 14 April 2021, Councillor Mark Bostock forwarded to all members of the Court of Common Council a joint letter (below) from the chairs of the City’s three largest residents’ associations regarding a petition about the City’s planning process.

On 15 April, Councillor Bostock formally presented that petition to the Court.

In the Court meeting, a member asked:

“Can I ask the member, given that he’s a member of one the largest residential wards in the City, what does believe will happen if the Corporation rejects or completely ignores this petition?”

Councillor Bostock replied:

“If the Corporation does not heed the petition, we will see more action on the part of residents, as we saw with standards reform and defeating the proposed expansion of a City school in the Barbican. Since the Corporation only has the status of a public authority because it has residents, I think the Corporation’s leadership would be well advised to stop acting against them.”

Another member suggested that the objection to planning applications being decided by small panels (instead of by the full Planning Committee as at present) was not an objection in principle, but one concerning the composition of the panels.

Councillor Bostock replied:

“All those who have signed the petition have declared that they oppose the introduction of panels ‘to avoid corroding democratic accountability’…

The petition says, ‘democratic accountability is already weak within the Corporation’. This is due to the anomaly of the business vote which does not exist in other local authorities. So to propose some kind of compromise regarding the detailed composition of these unwanted panels misses the point andwould still compromise democratic accountability. Our electorate do not want that.

I would remind members that panels are the subject of only one of three points in the petition. The other two relate to the perception of bias that is embedded in our planning process. There is no reason for our electorate to accept or compromise on that either.”

The petition, which has 1,270 signatures, will now be considered by each of the governing Policy and Resources Committee and the Planning Committee.

In the meantime, it remains open for further signatures from City residents, City workers and anyone interested in preserving the City’s heritage.

Open letter to the Court of Common Council

14 April 2021 Dear Members of the Court of Common Council, As the Chairs of the City’s three largest residents’ associations, we urge you to heed this petition that will be presented at your meeing tomorrow. It has so far been signed by more than 1,250 people, including many of our members and other City residents.

The City Corporation’s relationship with much of its residential electorate has not been improved by a planning process in which business interests continuously trump residential. Failure to heed this petion would put residents at a further disadvantage and be likely to widen and deepen discontent among residents, without whom the City Corporation would not exist as a local authority.

Yours faithfully,

Adam Hogg Chair, Barbican Association

Tim Godsmark Chair, Golden Lane Estate Residents’ Association

Roger Way Chair, Middlesex Street Estate Residents’ Association

The Barbican Association is one of the sponsors of a major petition that has just been launched to seek reform of the planning process in the City.

This is a subject that has caused a lot of discontent within the Barbican in the past and is likely to continue to do so in the future, particularly in view of several major applications in the pipeline.

The petition will be formally presented to the Court of Common Council at its meeting in April. A high number of signatures may turn the dial on this subject which potentially affects us all.

Please could you find the time to sign this petition and identify yourself as a Barbican resident in the ‘reason for signing’ section at the bottom.

Please share the petition with friends and neighbours.