Category: Consultations

CULTURE MILE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT (BID)

Following a ballot of local businesses within its area, the BID has been given the go ahead.  As can be seen from illustration below, the BID’s area is far more extensive than that of the recently proposed Barbican and Golden Lane Neighbourhood Area.

According to the BID’s proposal:

The Culture Mile BID wants to work collaboratively with its residential communities, recognising the valuable contribution the wider community makes to the vibrancy and identity of the area. We want to develop a framework for meaningful engagement, which enables residents to feed into the work of the BID, not simply be informed of its plans. This could take the form of a Community Forum, facilitated by the BID, resident involvement with steering groups and agreed channels of communication between the BID and residential communities, working closely with ward member and resident associations. We want to develop the specific mechanics through dialogue with residents but want to make it clear that we are committed to working hand in hand with residents. Collaboration, diversity and community will be the bedrock of our BID.

However, the BID’s board has yet to be constituted. As a result, details of how and when engagement with residents will be effected will “follow in due course”. In the meantime, further details of the BID’s proposal can be found at https://culturemilebid.co.uk/.

Beech Street Zero Emission Scheme

The BA’s Beech Street working party prepared and submitted the below response to the Beech Street ZEZ and the wider area consultation…

Response to consultation

… accompanied by a message from the BA Chair:

The Barbican Association has long advocated for a properly thought out, planned and funded whole area scheme to reduce pollution and manage traffic.

The current proposals do not provide this.

Our attached response cannot be interpreted as support for the latest proposal.

On the assumption that irrespective of our views the scheme will be implemented, we make recommendations that could ameliorate some of its negative aspects.

Consultation on the Bunhill, Barbican and Golden Lane Healthy Neighbourhood

The City of London Corporation and Islington Council are working in partnership on the long-term future of the Bunhill, Barbican and Golden Lane area. They would like your views on air quality, traffic, local streets and public spaces. This is early engagement to help them develop a plan. There will be
further engagement and consultation in the future as individual projects are developed.

Download the flyer for more details.

The engagement is open until 6th March 2023 and you can take part here.

Refurbishment plans for Alban Gate, 125 London Wall

“Sensitive” refurbishment proposed

As most residents are now probably aware, a proposed “sensitive refurbishment” is being planned for this building.

The refurbishment is planned, in the developers’ own words, to “address the building’s shortcomings, namely the quality of public space at ground floor and podium levels along with the lack of amenity space for the building’s users & tenants…….Proposals include enhancing the public realm on ground and podium levels with re-positioned retail units, a contemporary office lobby, landscaping, lighting, and high-quality finishes……also looking to introduce planting on existing terraces, and provide new vegetated balconies across the building which will assist with encouraging biodiversity and climate resilience”.

In terms of timing, the expectation is that a planning application will be submitted in the autumn and that work on the project will commence in the summer of 2023 and be completed by spring 2024.

Public consultation underway

Prior to submitting an application to the City of London Corporation however the developers are “eager to understand the views of the local community”.

A public consultation is therefore currently underway during which the local community is being asked to view the proposals and leave their feedback online by visiting  www.albangate.co.uk. The survey will be available until 5th October but the website will remain live so people can continue to view the proposals.

Additionally, in-person consultation event is to be held at the old Pizza Express unit on the podium at 125 London Wall from 15.00 – 19.00 on Wednesday 28th September.

More clarification needed

Given the proximity of this building to the Barbican Estate and the need to clarify what is actually meant by the many jargon-laden words describing the plans, residents are urged to visit the website and, if possible, attend the in-person event and make their views known.

London Wall West – Response to proposals published 18 June 2022

Copy of open letter sent to Chris Hayward, Chair of the City of London’s Policy & Resources Committee on 23 June 2022

OVERALL COMMENT

We are dismayed that the fundamentals of the proposed design remain the same as those we saw last December. The scheme proposes the demolition of Bastion House and the Museum of London. In their place is planned a huge office-led development of some 780,000 sq. ft, including two massive new towers, with limited cultural and green space. The scheme is wholly inappropriate for a site of such significance, both in its physical form and in terms of its proposed usage. Moreover, it undermines the City’s desire, as expressed in Destination City, to be one of the world’s premier destinations through its cultural offerings.

OUR OBJECTIONS

We have been told repeatedly that the principal objective of the proposed development is to raise funds – for the move of the Museum of London and other City projects.

By focusing on this objective, the City will:

• Ignore the site’s rich history, which features the Romans, Shakespeare, and John Wesley and many other historical features. The opening up of the Roman Fort Gate will be severely diminished by its commercial setting.

• Sacrifice the site’s public cultural heritage: as the home of the Museum of London for 50 years and the previously intended location of the world-class Centre for Music. It remains the Southern gateway to Culture Mile linking the South Bank and Tate Modern to St. Paul’s Cathedral and beyond.

• Confront visitors instead with a huge commercial development, with a cultural offering representing just over one per cent of its space.

• Compromise the nature and architectural integrity of the Barbican Quarter. The Barbican is world-renowned and one of the City’s major post-war achievements. The Museum complements the public benefit of the Barbican while Bastion House reflects its admired Brutalist design. The new proposals include little in the way of public benefit while the height and mass of the buildings will dominate and diminish the surrounding neighbourhood.

• Undermine many of its own policies and statements: the draft City Plan; the Open Space, Responsible Business and Climate Change strategies; the aims expressed in Destination City and the desire for the City to be a cultural hub, as expressed in the Barbican/Golden Lane Strategy .

There are also questions concerning the scheme’s compatibility with the National Plan and the National Planning Framework . How can the City ask others to respect its policies if it fails to do so itself?

THE CITY’S CLIMATE CHANGE STRATEGY

It is now widely agreed that, because of the devastating impact of carbon emissions on global warming, and the large proportion of carbon emissions resulting from major construction projects, serviceable buildings should not be demolished if re-fitting them is a feasible alternative. Our polling showed that 88% of Barbican residents opposed demolition of Bastion House and the Museum of London. However, the Whole Life Carbon Assessment report prepared by the City’s project team dismisses the option of retaining Bastion House without providing the necessary factual evidence. The judgement is based on a hypothetical assessment of risk rather than a full structural survey.

Moreover, if the scheme were to go ahead in its current proposed form, it would add over 45,000 tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere during the demolition and construction phases. This is more than the entire CO2 annual output of the City Corporation’s operational activities. How would this be compatible with the City’s stated aim of achieving Net Zero in its own operations by 2027?

THE CONSULTATION PROCESS

The City has stated its commitment to transparency and delivering a robust consultation process. We have commented elsewhere that this is far removed from our experience. Above all, the City has failed to engage with local stakeholders on the fundamental issues about the site as recommended by the National Planning Policy Framework.

While the Project Team has specified the nature of the consultation undertaken to date and highlighted the key concerns that arose (the height and mass of the proposed buildings, and issues of sustainability) they have provided no information whatsoever on the extent of those concerns, and why so little has been done to address them. We can only assume that the City’s failure to provide us with detailed information is because there is widespread opposition to these proposals.

In addition, the Project Team’s graphics are selective and misleading. There is little assessment of the scheme’s impact on the Barbican Estate and neighbouring conservation area. No 3D models demonstrating the full scale of what is proposed have been made available although we know they exist and their availability for stakeholders is encouraged in the London Plan .

We urge the City to live up to its commitment to transparency and consult meaningfully with the local community. The current process falls far short.

CONCLUSION

This remains a short-sighted proposal, lacking vision and apparently driven solely by the desire to raise money. Furthermore, the intention to enter into a long lease with a developer carries the risk that even the limited public benefits of the proposal would later be jettisoned by the developer.

As our polling showed, there is no evidence the scheme has the support of the local community. It is contrary to many of the City’s own policies. This is an outstanding site crying out for an imaginative scheme respecting its heritage and location. We once more invite the City to stop, think again, and work with us and the wider community to develop a scheme worthy of the site, the City and London itself.

Adam Hogg and Averil Baldwin Joint Chairs Barbican Quarter Action

Full pdf version of this letter can be seen here

www.londonstartshere.co.uk

twitter @barbicanquarter

instagram @barbicanquarteraction

London Wall West – Open meeting Wed 6th July

London Wall West – latest proposals

Open Meeting Wednesday 6 July 2022

The Barbican Association invites you to an open meeting to discuss the City’s latest proposals for London Wall West (the site currently occupied by the Museum of London and Bastion House.)

The meeting will be held on Wednesday 6 July at 7:00 pm in St. Giles Church

Please come if you can.

This is an important site and its development will affect residents and the wider community. The meeting will be a chance to tell you more about our response and for you to make your views known.

Refreshments will be provided and there will be time to mingle afterwards.

Adam Hogg,

Chairman of the Barbican Association 

Please contact Averil Baldwin email: averilmbaldwin@yahoo.com if there are any queries.

Barbican Quarter Action Group. New Website

Barbican Quarter Action is the new campaign group set up to protect the Barbican Estate and its vicinity, including Golden Lane, St Paul’s, Smithfield, Farringdon  and Clerkenwell from inappropriate and ill-considered development by the City of London both now and in the future.

The current campaign is focused on the plans for Bastion House and the Museum of London site: Barbican Quarter Action is asking the City of London to rethink, reset and stop this unacceptable development.

To learn more and to find out how to join the campaign please visit the website www.londonstartshere.co.uk which was launched today.

Planning & Licensing update 24th January 2022

1 Golden Lane – rescheduled public exhibition…..

We have been made aware that the rescheduled public exhibition for the 1 Golden Lane proposed refurbishment/expansion is to be held tomorrow, Tuesday 25th January 2022, 3:30pm-7:30pm. 

The event will take place at Jewin Welsh Church, 70 Fann Street, EC1Y 0SA. Further information of the proposals will be available during the exhibition, and members of the Project Team will be on-hand to answer questions.

The 1 Golden Lane website can be viewed here

….and offers redistribution of unwanted items from the strip out phase

The developers of 1 Golden Lane, Castleforge, have partnered with Globechain for the strip out phase of the building “to ensure a more sustainable approach to the project”. Castleforge is therefore looking for any charities or community organisations within the local area that may benefit from recycled material from the site.  

Globechain connect landlords to non-profits, businesses and people to redistribute unneeded items. Its online marketplace will allow Castleforge to upload unwanted items from the 1 Golden Lane strip out to its interactive website. These items can then be offered at no cost to charities and organisations in need. These can, for example, help to refurbish community centres or provide an opportunity for young people to learn to upcycle. 

If anyone knows of any organisations that would be interested in receiving items from the 1 Golden Lane strip out, including carpets tiles, ceiling tiles, hand dryers, doors, kitchen units or light fittings then please get in touch with Stephen Gregory, Account Executive at Concilio Communications. Email: sgregory@conciliocomms.com

Barbie Green licensing variation application hearing and decision

The hearing to decide the licence variation application from Barbie Green was held last Wednesday 12th January. It may be recalled that Barbie Green applied for a variation of its licence to extend the hours for the sale of alcohol on its premises from the current 11.00am to 10.30pm Monday to Sunday to 9.00am to 10.30pm Monday to Saturday. The application form implied that it was also applying to extend its off sales licence by two hours on weekdays and to include weekends (no off sales are currently allowed at weekends). Many objections were lodged and personal representations were made by several objectors at the hearing.

Whilst the proposed increase to the hours when alcohol could be sold on the premises was certainly not welcomed, the main thrust of the objections was against the seeming proposal to extend the off sales licence. The word “seeming” has been used as it transpired that the applicant had not filled in the form correctly and it was not applying to extend its off sales licence at all. It was therefore confirmed at the start of the hearing that the only variation being sought was to bring forward the sale of alcohol on the premises from 9am (from 11am) and that no changes were being sought in respect of off sales.

The hearing considered that, given the size of the premises, the variation was unlikely to attract a large number of additional brunch clients and the sub-committee “sought to strike a balance for residents and the business”. It therefore decided to grant a variation of the licence and extend the licensing hours to 9am on Monday to Saturday and to 10am on Sundays.

Any party dissatisfied with this decision has the right to appeal within 21 days of the date of the notification of the decision (i.e. from 17th January).

Barbican Centre – five teams shortlisted for major revamp project

The City of London Corporation has shortlisted five collaborative teams to compete for the major revamp of the Barbican Centre. The Corporation invited ‘multidisciplinary teams ‘who have the skills, experience and ambition to compete for the high-profile commission to transform the Brutalist arts centre ‘to meet the needs of 21st-century artists, audiences and communities’.

The finalists are:

–        Adjaye Associates, Benedetti Architects and PUP Architects

–        Allies and Morrison and Asif Khan Studio

–        Bjarke Ingels Group, Avanti Architects and POoR Collective

–        Diller Scofido + Renfro, McCloy + Muchemwa, and Purcell

–        Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Bureau de Change, Schulze+Grassoy, and Thinc

The full article can be read here

City of London announces a 70% increase in office development approvals in 2021  

The City of London Corporation has recently issued a press release announcing a 70% increase in office development approvals in 2021.

It highlights the fact that “In 2021, its Planning and Transportation Committee resolved to approve a total of 4,360,944 sq.ft of new office floorspace. This compares with 2,582,348 sq.ft in 2020 – an increase of almost 70% year on year. The developments to have been approved this year include  55 Gracechurch Street, 70 Gracechurch Street, 2-3 Finsbury Avenue, City Place House, 100-108 Fetter Lane, 120 Fleet Street, 115-123 Houndsditch and 14-21 Holborn Viaduct”.

The release goes on to say that a substantial number of office developments remain in the planning pipeline which are expected to go to the Planning and Transportation Committee for decision in 2022. You have been warned!

The full press release can be read here

Moor Lane Greening Consultation – closes 31st December 2021

Consultations seem to be like buses at the moment. You wait ages for one and then two or three turn up at the same time. We have already reminded residents to participate if they can in the London Wall West consultation process which closes on 31st December.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind that the Corporations consultation on the proposed Environmental Enhancements to Moor Lane also closes on 31st December and we would urge residents to respond if they can. As always, numbers matter on any consultation. Moor Lane is close to us and important not only to those residents in its closest vicinity but also to all of us in terms of aesthetics, wellbeing, air quality, traffic and footfall management.

This is the residents’ chance to advocate for Moor Lane to be a wonderful green and quiet environment adjacent to our Estate.

Greening not bollards!

Residents may recall that the Moor Lane Greening scheme was approved way back in 2012 but was put on hold due to the development of the site at 21 Moorfields.

The earlier, agreed plan offered a wide pavement and an avenue of trees on the western side together with extensive planting to the north and south. It is therefore hugely disappointing to see that this long-awaited scheme has been abandoned to make way for 42 security bollards on the 21 Moorfields side of Moor Lane, with no greening, and a much reduced planting scheme overall. The current consultation also only shows one side of Moor Lane and does not extend the full length of the street – hence it does not show the true impact of the security bollards

The present consultation document also omits to say that the consultation is being carried out separate to any assessment of traffic flow and footfall which should surely an integral part of the whole scheme.

Summary and background notes

We would like this consultation to consist of a joined-up strategy with ambition and consideration for the future of Moor Lane as a quiet shared space and which takes landscaping, planning, highways and amenity factors into consideration in the round.  The gardens under London Wall Place are now maturing nicely.  We believe that there should be similar intent and ambition for greening on Moor Lane.

We attach some bullet points here which provide useful background and content for any consultation response. It also shows a schematic comparison of what was agreed and approved in the 2010/11 consultation and what is being proposed now.

We would remind that it is important that everyone writes a response in their own words as all similar responses will only count as one.

How to respond

  • On-line feedback can be completed here

It would also be very helpful to email feedback directly to the relevant City of London contacts:

Tom.Noble@cityoflondon.gov.uk. (Tom Noble, Group Manager – Business Development / Development Management, City Public Realm)

Andrea.Moravicova@cityoflondon.gov.uk.  (Andrea Moravicova, Project Manager, City Public Realm)

citypublicrealm@cityoflondon.gov.uk

The link to the City of London’s official consultation web page can be found here