Parcel collection during December

From the BEO:

Dear Residents,    
 Due to an increase in parcels received around the Christmas period, car park boxes begin to get very full. Could you please try to collect your parcels as soon as you receive your pink cards. This would be most appreciated.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.
 With regards
 Barbican Estate Office 

More white line work

It's amazing how noisy this is. 

A very hot lance

Ward Newsletters

From the City:

Dear ward membersThe latest edition of your ward newsletter is now available to download from the page below:http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-the-city/how-we-work/elections-and-wards/Pages/wards.aspxThank you.

Bulb planting & log pile building: TMH garden Sun. 2nd Dec,10-3

From the BEO:

Dear resident, You are invited to come and build log piles for stag beetles and plant spring flowering bulbs in the Thomas More garden this Sunday, 1st December from 10.00 to 13.00. 
The horse chestnut tree has now been felled and there is a neat pile of logs waiting to be turned into homes for stag beetles. There is also a selection of snowdrops, tete a tete and pheasant eye narcissi.  
Tools and bulbs will be provided - the session is suitable for all the family - and there is a nature trail Treasure Hunt for intrepid explorers!

Meet the Town Clerk - 21 Jan 2014

The Barbican Association have set up a public meeting with the City of London Town Clerk, who is the most senior officer (employee) in the City ...

Dear Residents Meet the Town ClerkThe Barbican Association invites all residents to a meeting with the Town Clerk of the City of London at 6 pm on Tuesday 21 January 2014 in the City of London School for Girls.

John Barradell has been the City's Town Clerk (in effect its chief executive) for about 16 months. He has previously worked for local authorities who have taken the views of residents very seriously and he is keen to meet residents. He has already instigated some changes behind the scenes to improve consultation processes with residents.

We have therefore invited him to come and give a presentation to residents, talking about the City and its residents and reflecting on his first 16 months. There will be plenty of time for questions including informal ones over drinks at the end.

If there are particular issues you would like him to cover in this meeting please email Jane Smith, chair of the Barbican Association, on chairBA@btinternet.com

Crane in Whitecross Street 30th Nov.

From the BEO: 

Barbican Estate Office have been informed that a crane will be operating in Whitecross Street on the 30 November from 8am to 6pm.

This will mean that there is no access to Barbican exhibition hall 1, but access to Barbican car parks will be unaffected.

Pre Meeting Q&A for RCC 23 Nov Meeting

The RCC (Residents Consultative Committee) is one of many committees representing residents to the City.   The RCC works as an information gathering part of the BRC (Barbican Residents Committee) which is the internal City of London committee which has the real power (and money!).  The RCC is really important as a tool to influence what the City does with respect to the Barbican residents.

Most house groups have a representative on the RCC and Ben Jonson is represented.  If you want to raise something at the RCC talk to your house group (e.g. the the email form at the bottom of this page).

In the lead-up to the meeting on 23rd November several questions were put by RCC members.  The responses from the City are here.

Note in particular questions 1, 2 and 4, about Victor's seats, the new film school building and the state of the tiling of the plinths on Ben Jonson Highwalk.

YMCA Building Exhibition on Tue 3rd Dec

Redrow are the developers who will be turning the old YMCA building on Fann St. into 90(!) residential flats.  Redrow are holding a public exhibition to view their proposals.

The exhibition will be in St. Giles Cripplegate on 3rd Dec from 16:00 to 21:00.

You can see a copy of the flyer here.

The ex YMCA building with a new name

Installing the real Cote kitchen vent

Cote's temporary metal kitchen extractor ducting is to be removed and replaced with a fitted smell free permanent alternative.  The work is already under way.

Temporary ducting still there, hiding behind the gate.

From the BEO:

Hello, just to say the Barbican Centre have advised that work will commence to change the orientation of the ventilation intake to cinema 3 in Beech Street, from the North side to the East side of the building. The temporary ducting is being removed, which the Centre advise should alleviate the problem with smells adjacent to staircase 64 at street level. The new grille will take air into the building, and not expel air out. The contractor wishes to commence work today, 20 November. They will need to erect a scaffold and whilst this is being erected, residents will not be able to exit the main door and turn left.  However, once this is erected they will be able to do so except when the works are taking place. The work should take about two or three days. If you have any further enquiries, I can contact Jim Turner at the Centre, but it appears that the Planning Department have been heavily involved, with this project, particularly with regard to alleviating the smells, and any possible noise implications. This is what has held the work up. An email broadcast is being sent out as we speak. Sorry for the short notice, on this occasion my fault, not the Barbican Centres!

House Group Constitution and Rules

NOTE:  Our understanding of the constitution and rules has changed.

The definitive set is now here: 2019 Constitution and Rules.

But for the record, this is what we thought in 2013:
___

Just for the record, here are the constitution and rules for the Ben Jonson House Group:

Constitution and Rules

1. Name

1. The name of the association is "The Ben Jonson House Group".  It is affiliated to the Barbican Association which is recognised by the Corporation of London under the Landlord & Tenant Act 1988 (as amended).

2. Objectives

1. To co-operate and liaise with the Barbican Association on services charge matters generally affecting short and long term leaseholders in the Barbican Estate.
2. To represent directly to the Estate Management the views and interests of residents on matters particular to Ben Jonson House, seeking advice from appropriate sources as necessary.
3. To do such other things as may be deemed appropriate

3. Membership

1. Membership of the House Group is open to any individual who is
1. a resident of Ben Jonson House or
2. a Ben Jonson House leaseholder
2. The committee shall admit to membership any eligible tenant who applies in writing to the chairman to become a member and who pays such subscription as the Committee shall from time to time decide
3. It shall be an absolute condition for membership that all and any subscriptions called for by the Committee shall have been duly paid

4. Management

1. The Group shall be managed by a Committee consisting of at least five members elected at the Annual General Meeting
2. The Committee shall elect the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer at its first meeting
3. Vacancies on the Committee may be filled by Co-option by the remaining Committee members
4. Committee members shall hold office until the following Annual General Meeting at which they shall be eligible for re-election
5. The quorum of the Committee shall be three members of which one shall be either the Chairman, Secretary or Treasurer
6. The Committee shall appoint one member to be its representative on the Barbican Association Grand Committee
7. The Committee shall administer the funds of the group, making collections and disbursements at its absolute discretion, and for which the Treasurer shall present accounts to the Annual General Meeting

​5. Subscriptions

1. The amount and time for payment of any initial or annual or occasional subscription to the Group shall be as the Committee shall from time to time decide

6. Meetings

1. An Annual General Meeting shall be held close to the end of March each year, on such a date as the Committee shall decide
2. Extra-ordinary General Meetings (i) may be convened by the Committee or (ii) shall be convened by the Committee within 21 days from receipt by the Secretary of a written request from at least fifteen percent of the membership and stating the purpose of the meeting
3. The quorum at any General Meeting shall be fifteen percent of members
4. Voting at all meetings shall be on the basis of one vote per flat

Social/Health care fund meeting 12th Dec

From the BEO:

Message sent on behalf of Health Watch

Dear Residents
 A new fund – The Integration Transformation Fund is about to become available to be used to support adult social care services with a health benefit.
 We would like to invite you to a discussion as to how YOU would like the City of London's  health and social care services to be provided to ensure that the joint health and social care experience is a very positive one for those who will or do use the service.

Date               12^th December
Venue            Artizan Street Library, 1 Artizan Street, E1 7AF
Time                2.00-4.00pm

Please contact Janine Aldridge at healthwatchcityoflondon@ageuklondon.org.uk or ring 020 7820 6787 to register your attendance. Refreshments will be provided.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Lift 64 out of order

I'm sure it was fixed in a trice, but I just wanted to note this issue with lift 64 (at the Waitrose end of the building) ...

I'll be back soon!

Tree felling - 26 & 27 Nov. Thomas More Lawn

Sick tree to get the chop.  From the BEO:

Please be aware that the tree felling planned for Monday 4^th and Tuesday 5^th November has been rescheduled for Tuesday 26^th and Wednesday 27^th November. This is one of the larger trees in the middle of Thomas More Lawn. Working hours will be 10am to 4pm and remnants of the tree will be used within the gardens. This is on the advice of our colleague from Open Spaces. The central tree is in very poor condition and it's felt that its removal will benefit the surrounding trees that are also currently not thriving. If you have any further queries, please do contact your House Officer.

London Film School: Opening here in 2016?

Screen  Daily reports (here) that the London Film School will be making their move to the Barbican, beneath Ben Jonson and Bretton houses, in 2016.

The information I had so far from the Film School was that negotiations and fund raising are still happening, and that the move was not definite, but this article suggests it's all full steam ahead.  From the article:  

The internationally focused craft school now has a number of new courses in the works and is moving forward with its anticipated $22m (£14m) relocation to London’s Barbican.
The 2016 relocation, expansion and upgrade forms the cornerstone of the school’s next chapter.
After years of searching, the Covent Garden-based school has agreed a deal with the Corporation of London for a 50-year lease on Exhibition Hall 1, a 32,000 sq ft space in Golden Lane currently controlled by Barbican Arts Centre. “This is the first time we’ve found the right deal in the right place,” says Gibson.
The current plan for the space will offer a 130-seat main cinema, two sound stages, seven large teaching rooms including a second screen, four seminar rooms and accommodation for technical departments and teachers.
The tech upgrade will include a digital production facility with green screen, and a digital silo server system covering post-production and film library services. Backing for the move comes from a Lottery grant, the BFI’s capital fund for film schools, the school’s own accrued capital, a bank facility, major donations and smaller gifts.

Heating: How warm and when?

I just read this explanation on Barbican Talk of how the "background" underfloor heating level is set in the Barbican.  The heating system is active from 1st October to the 30th April.

The temperature used is an average temperature not just of the previous night but also the previous day, and results in a computation being done (automatically) as to how much charge to put into the system. Where the temperature is just above 15C, then no charge goes in, because nominally the system was designed to provide "background heating" up to 15C in people's flats. If it is only slightly below 15C, this results in fairly insignificant amounts of charge going in (e.g. just half an hour all night), which does not accumulate any useful heat to discharge during the day. Floor pads really need to get several hours of charge to accumulate enough heat to warm a room.

As the temperature drops, as winter advances, many flats appear to end up with more charge than they need to achieve a comfortable temperature, and we see their occupiers rolling open the windows in the depths of winter, to cope.

Ben Jonson House in a music video

I read about this on Barbican Talk. Ben Jonson house appears in an Olly Murs video:

Caught in the act of playing football on the highwalk

Public Health and Social Care - 20th Nov 18:00 meeting

The Barbican Association have organised a residents meeting about health and social care.  Here is the notice for the meeting:

"Future Directions for Public Health and Social Care in The City"

Presentation and Panel Discussion Wednesday, 20 November 2013 at 6.00 pm St Giles’ Cripplegate Church

• Ade Adetosoye OBE, Director of Community and Children’s Services
• Dr Penny Bevan, Director of Public Health 
• Chris Pelham, Assistant Director of People’s Services 
• Farrah Hart, Healthy City Development Manager 
• Revd Dr Martin Dudley, Chairman, Health & Wellbeing Board 

In April 2013 the City of London took over responsibility for public health from the NHS. This provides an opportunity to better integrate services and co-ordinate initiatives around both public health and social care. The BA has asked the Director of Community and Children’s Services and the Director of Public Health as well as key managers responsibly for delivering these services within the Square Mile to share with residents what these changes mean. Come and find out the thinking behind these changes, the improvements planned, and what this means for Social Services, from a City resident’s perspective.

To be followed by wine, soft drinks and an opportunity for informal chat. All Barbican residents are welcome.

Car Parking window decal stickers

From the BEO:

Dear Residents,
To assist all long term car park users in demonstrating their entitlement to park we will be introducing Barbican Estate Logo window decal stickers.

This will commence in January 2014 and will assist us with the security monitoring and management of our car parking bays.

Each year these window display stickers will change in colour, and will feature the correct year and the car registration of your car parking licence.

If you have a car parking bay with us, could you please ensure that the Estate Concierge has all of your current vehicles registered on their database.

If you have any queries regarding the new process, please speak to your Estate Concierge who will be glad to assist you.

Baggage Store Charges

Residents of the Barbican who are short of space in their flat can keep their skis, large suitcases etc. in one of the rentable baggage stores across the estate.  Well, in theory if not in practice since they are rather popular and it can be hard to get one.  If you're interested, contact the BEO.

The BEO have just announced a change (i.e. increase) in the charges for baggage stores (see the notice here).

In summary:

• Standard stores will increase from £295 to £303 per annum
• Transportable stores will increase from £352 to £362 per annum
• Large stores will increase from £414 to £426 per annum

Lost highwalk

The campaign to remove highwalks from the City continues.  At one time the St. Alphage Highwalk had two pubs, a bank, restaurants and shops, in addition to a large traffic free green area.  In future we can look forward to a couple of elevated pathways suspended above the new street level paved areas.

This is a continuation of the of the destruction of highwalks across the City championed by Peter Rees, the City's chief planning officer (though not for much longer, it seems).

The small wall of Ben Jonson Highwalk

The route from Ben Jonson House to the south across the highwalk is currently largely blocked by fencing which appeared in the last couple of weeks.  I wonder what's going on? 

None shall pass

Update 2013-11-12:  Our house officer had not been told about this either, but after some investigation found:

...  this is part of the  on-going work to test the concrete on the estate. Apparently these rotundas are Landlord’s Structures and require testing too according to Property Services who is managing the work to the concrete. I have not been updated as to how long the work on these structures will take. When I find out I will update you.

Update 2013-11-13:  The fencing and scaffold are all gone now

Just a photo of Ben Jonson House

... because it looked interesting with the seeing sun striking Cromwell tower in the background.  The new home of the London Film School will be here, where the blue frontage can be seen now:

The new LFS home will be here

St Giles Terrace Seating and Planters bent out of shape

It seems that Victor's seating is already degrading.  The following was reported to the City by the Gilbert House group:

We have noted (before the recent storm) that several of the metal dividers/armrests on the newly installed large planters on St Giles Terrace have been bent out of shape. It looks as though someone heavy has stood on them or has placed heavy weights on them to cause the metal strips to bend and sag in this way. I wonder if one of your team would have a look at them if this has not been noted already.
Best wishes

Motorbike parked outside SC64

A response from SquareMileParking regarding the parked motor cycle beside the ramp at the eastern end of Ben Jonson House. In short, if you see someone parking in this spot call 020 7332 3910 :

Good afternoon,... In the simplest terms the area on ground level is not part of the dedication and is enforceable.  I have spoken to our enforcement team and they are not aware of any issues around the area since my last email so hopefully the offending vehicle was a one off.
 The regulations provide that if an area is private land but the area is public highway (i.e. the public have regularly passed without hindrance for several years) then we can enforce but if there is no right of way then we can't.  The vast majority of the land around the ramp has a clear right of way and our officers will issue PCNs if vehicles park in this area.  The area which may not have an established right of way is the land between the building wall and the ramp as few, if any, pedestrians would elect to use this as a through route. ... our Transportation Strategy and Programmes Team Leader, advises 'given that the City is (almost certainly, given that the area is part of the Barbican) the landowner, we can nevertheless dedicate the way as a public highway if we wish to (and therefore start issuing PCNs to motor vehicles parked there).  If, as a result, you want to pursue this (i.e., the problem parking is continuing), let me know and we will speak to the Barbican Estate Office to see if they are content with the area being dedicated as public highway.'. So the short answer is that we will continue to monitor the area and if there are issues we will issue PCNs.  Similarly if you find vehicles parking there please email our enforcement contractor as cc'ed or call on 020 7332 3910.  If it does become a habitual parking spot and mainly in the area where enforcement could be viewed as 'doubtful' we will explore the public highway dedication but hopefully we would not need follow that route.

Beech Gardens: High Wind

From the BEO (sent last before the storm last week while I was away, so this is really just for the record):

Dear Residents, Due to very high winds a decision has been taken to lay down and tie up all Beech Garden barriers to prevent persons being struck by a flying barrier.
The winds in the Beech Gardens area are being made worse by downdraughts from the tower blocks. 

The barriers will be replaced as soon as the high winds drop.  We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, and advise you to please stay away from the Beech Gardens area.

Leading the show

A resident of Ben Johnson House was at the front of the lord mayor's show in this rather understated car.  After the parade the car made a brief stop outside Ben Jonson House:
(Jag' lent the car)

Lord Mayor's Show - road closures

The Lord Mayor's Show is almost upon us.  The BEO have sent out information about what roads will be shut:

Dear Residents  

Please click on the link below for information on the road closures for the Lord Mayor's Show on Saturday 9 November: 

 http://www.lordmayorsshow.org/residents/roads-closed 

With regards Barbican Estate Office

And note this in particular from the linked page:

SPECIAL CASES
Sorry: there are no special cases. The secure area is very secure indeed and its perimeter is heavily policed. Early in the day a resident of the Barbican might be able to drive out along Beech Street or Aldersgate, but not after about 9am, and there is no chance that you will be allowed to drive in.

A message from Charterhouse

From the BEO:

Dear residents A ground-breaking exhibition is taking place at the Charterhouse in November, looking at the role of philanthropy in the development of the City of London.  I know that many of you were disappointed not to be able to join one of the recent tours, and this provides an excellent opportunity to visit.  Entry to the exhibition is free, and tours of the entire site will take place at 3pm each Thursday-Sunday at a cost of £10 per head. Additionally, a series of events will be taking place throughout the month which will delve further into the issues that the exhibition explores, most of which are also free.  One very special event that might particularly interest you is a special performance being given by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.  The Charterhouse is delighted to welcome the Orchestra, who will be led by Laurence Cummings, and music on the night will all be pieces selected from Handel's repertoire (himself a prolific philanthropist). Leaflets are attached outlining full details of the exhibition and its associated events programme. The Charterhouse would be delighted if Barbican residents would like to volunteer their services throughout November as exhibition invigilators.  A training session will take place at the Charterhouse at 4pm on 24^th October.  Please email Ainslie Ross, Development Manager (ainslie.ross@suttonshospital.co.uk) if you would like to help. With regards Barbican Estate Office