Cripplegate Alderman "Elected"

If you got the notice of ward alderman "election" when I did then you had just one business day to get your nomination in to the City.  It looks like nobody was able to move fast enough as Mr David Graves has been "re-elected" to the position unopposed.

2014/15 Service Charges: £979,073

The service charges for 2014/15 are £979,073 for the whole of Ben Jonson House which includes the £352,686 for the external redecorations.  There are 204 flats in Ben Jonson House, so on a completely even split that would be ~£4800 per flat, but actual charges depend on the size of the flat.

The details of the charges are included in this letter sent out by the BEO to each flat.  At the back of this particular document are sample costs for one kind of flat, an M2B, which comes in at £4602 for the year, charged at £1150.50 per quarter.  Each flat will get a similar page for the specific flat type.

RCC Q&A for meeting on Monday 2nd June

The RCC (Residents Consultative Committee) meet on Monday.  Questions put to the City are often answered in a Q&A document before the meeting.

Here is the Q&A for the June 2nd meeting.  Two questions apply to Ben Jonson House, 5 and 6, but you may find them all interesting.

Another lake

Following the persistent rain this week we have a new lake.

... and we have still not seen the promised BEO plan for drainage management.

You can just make out the drain under the water

2014 External Redecorations: The costs

All long leaseholders should have received a letter from the BEO giving details of who has won the contract to do the external redecorations for Ben Jonson and Breton houses, and the costs.

The cost for Ben Jonson House as a whole is £352,686.00, with the cost per flat ranging from £1,375.48 to £2,539.34.

And of course, we'll be blue.

The details are in the letter:

House Group Flash AGM - 19:00 June 4th Cinema Cafe

Please do come along to the Flash AGM at 19:00 on the evening of June 4th in the Cinemas Cafe, right underneath the mighty Ben Jonson House.

We've tried to hold an AGM twice so far this year.  The first date was knocked out by the ward mote with almost no notice and the meeting on the second date didn't have enough people :-(  We need to have an AGM.  No AGM, no house group.

We just need to cover the essentials in this meeting, so it should be brief.  Come along and grab a glass of wine.  By the time you finish the wine it'll all be over -  in a flash.

Thanks.

Election of Cripplegate Alderman

In yet another surprise from the City regarding our ward, I have just received notice that the post of Alderman in the ward of Cripplegate is up for election.  The letter is cheekily dated 19th May.

If you wish to stand you'd better get your skates on.  The election is in less than four weeks time, and you'll need to have your application in by 27th May.  In other words, you have barely one full working days notice to get your form in.  Really.

If there are no other candidates by the 27th May, David Graves gets to keep the job for several more years.

Here is the notice:

Dispose of batteries and light bulbs safely

... Here in the Barbican library ...

Water off for evening of 23rd May

I received a letter today (Thu 22nd) from Thames Water saying that the water supply will be cut off for the evening of Friday 23rd May 2014 from 19:00 until 01:00 the next morning.

Here is the letter:

Fwd: Carers Event 13th June Barbican Residents

From the BEO

Dear Residents

Please find attached details of an event which provides support for carers in the City.

City Carers' Service supports Carers Week

Drop in Event for Carers

Friday June 13th 2014 at Artizan Library, Artizan Street E1 7AF

Time: 10.30am-2.30pm

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Feedback request from the City of London - design your services

From the BEO::

Dear Residents

Design your services

The Department of Community and Children's Services employs a number of staff to directly provide services to residents (for example social care and housing). It also commissions, or 'buys in', services from a variety of other organisations to support residents in the City of London. We think it makes sense to listen to people who use services to help decide what is needed, who should deliver it (if it's not us) and monitor how the service is doing. A number of contracts with providers of current services will soon come to an end and we're looking for residents and workers to be involved in choosing organisations to provide them in the future. Services include information advice, volunteering, telecare and various Public Health Services including sexual health advice, substance misuse and community engagement. If you would like to have you say then we would like to hear from you.

There is a range of opportunities with varying time commitments and Spice Time credits are available for anyone taking part. If you would like to take part or would like more information to help you decide please contact commissioningandperformance@cityoflondon.gov.uk or speak to Sarah Greenwood on 0207 332 3594.

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Parcels: How it used to be

One of the house group committee members recalls how parcel deliveries used to happen:

Barbican flats were built with two hatches by each front door - one for garbage collection (still in use) and the other for milk and package deliveries, now disused. The postman borrowed a barrow and hatch key from the CPA, and post was individually delivered to each flat. Where an item required a signature of receipt or was too large for the hatch, but the tenant was not at home, undeliverable items were received by the CPA when returning the barrow and key. 

This sensible practise saved the postman time by not having to fill out non-delivery cards nor take the item back to the sorting office, and saved the tenants from a tedious followup trip there.

Not delivered here - Post Office rules

Have you seen one of these? I got one today. If you did get one, and didn't move quickly enough to grab the postman, I'm afraid you'll need to go to Mount Pleasant to get your parcel (I've been though this in the past, and it's not pleasant at all).

The reason given for not delivering this particular item is that 'It's too large'.  It was not too large.  I tested it once I'd retrieved it, and it slid through the letter box with no problem at all.

It seems there is some kind of wrangle going on between the Post Office and the estate which centres around parcels which are small enough to go through letter boxes, but which are being left with the CPA.

The funny thing is that the official line from the Chairman & Chief Executive Office of the Post Office (see letter below) is exactly what we would hope for, i.e. try to deliver the item through the letter box and if it won't fit then leave it with the CPA.

I spoke to the postman this morning and he says that he's been told he must *not* leave things with the CPAs.  Someone has their wires crossed here, and that means some of us will be visiting Mount Pleasant.

YAH: Marshal's Needed

From Young at Heart:

Young at Heart Memebrs,

We are still in need of some marshals for our first ever GoTri event around the Barbican estate. This would require you to direct people on the 1K run or help officiate the swimming section.

It is on Wednesday 21st May @ Golden Lane Leisure Centre. We will need you from 6pm until around 8pm.

Please let me know if you are interested.

Regards
Leonie Wade

Sports Development Officer
City of London

Silk Street - notification of works commencing

From the City:

Please find attached a copy of a letter relating to the commencement of works on Silk Street and Beech Street from Tuesday 27 May. Copies of the letter are being circulated to local stakeholders via email and post, and the Barbican Estate Office will be circulating a copy via their residents email list.

I should be grateful if you can forward this letter to the Heads of the relevant House Groups. I should draw attention to the second page of the letter, which contains an email address and web address for the project. We will be sending out weekly 'e-bulletins' during the works, and so I would encourage people to email the silkstreet@cityoflondon.gov.uk address if they wish to receive this.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Best wishes,
Tom Noble

Project Manager (Environmental Enhancement)
Department of the Built Environment
City of London

020 7332 1057

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

Allotment plots available!

From the BEO:

Dear Residents

This message is sent on behalf of the residents who run the allocation of allotment plots:

You may have noticed that there are new allotment plots behind Shakespeare Tower. Most have been planted for this season, but some may become available later this year. If you are interested in a plot, please let Candace Gllies-Wright know (cgw1@tinyworld.co.uk) and your name will go on the waiting list. If you have any questions, please ask Candace.

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Give and Take Day Sat 17th May!

From the BEO:

Dear Residents

Back by popular demand!!

The City of London Recycling Team are hosting another Give and Take Day!

The popular community event will be held on Saturday 17th May in St Giles Cripplegate Church, Fore Street between 10am – 3pm.

A Give and Take Day is a chance for you to give away items you no longer need, and take items that you do, all for free! It is also a great way to support your local community, help the environment and save some money too.

At previous Barbican Give and Take Day's we have received thousands of donations – everything from a piano to a chaise long were donated, in addition to hundreds of children's toys, cd's, clothes, suitcases, rare books, home furnishings, computers and even a set of skis to name but a few! Donations will be accepted if they are in a good, reusable condition – afterall, one person's 'rubbish' is another person's treasure.

We are also able to accept electrical items e.g. kettles, computers, lamps etc.

Please come along to the church between (Give) 10am – 12 midday with the items you wish to donate and return between 1pm – 3pm to take donated items – you never know what you might find so please do come along!

On Saturday 17th May, we will also be offering Barbican residents the chance to receive a free bulky collection on this day only, to enable residents to donate big/heavy/awkward items (e.g. furniture) to the event, for free. This service is available on a first come, first served basis, so please call the City of London Contact Centre on 020 7606 3110 to pre-book your free bulky collection.

Any items which are not taken by the end of the event will be taken to the next Give and Take Day (date TBC), donated to charity or disposed of appropriately.

At this upcoming event, we will also be offering residents the chance to Recycle:

• used cooking oil – please bring used cooking oil to St Giles Cripplegate Church in a secure, closed container (e.g. plastic bottle etc), and you'll be directed to the recycling point.
• low energy bulbs - (we are unable to accept "strip" lighting).
• Batteries (all sizes including hearing aid batteries, laptop batteries etc).

For further information on the event, please visit www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/giveandtake, call 020 7606 3110 or follow us on Twitter, @GreenSqMile.Recycle

The Recycling Team look forward to seeing you there!

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Bank station capacity upgrade – Autumn 2013 consultation

From TfL:

Dear Sir/MadamThe report of our Autumn 2013 consultation about the proposed Bank station capacity upgrade is now available at: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/tube/bankstationThis includes our responses to issues raised. I hope you will find this useful. If you have any comments or questions, do please get in touch.Yours faithfully Richard ShirleyConsultation ManagerLondon Underground Bank SCU Project10 King William Street, London EC4N 7TW

Flash AGM - June 4th 19:00 @ The Cinemas Cafe

We have not had a real AGM this year.  The meeting on the 18th of April this year (minutes here) was not an AGM because we didn't have enough members turn up!

The idea of the Flash AGM is that it is a brief meeting, ~30 minutes, covering just the essential items which are required for the house group to continue to function.

Here is the meeting notice and agenda:

City in Bloom & Spring Fun Day

From the BEO:

Dear Resident,

Residents are invited to the launch of City in Bloom 2014 this Sunday from 1:30 to 3:30 PM. City in Bloom is the celebration of gardening excellence in the Square Mile with an emphasis on fun and enjoyment of all things green - including fingers! You can enter your window box, roof terrace or allotment planter for awards in the residential, sustainable and edible categories - and this year there is a special award for growing golden pollinator friendly plants.

Come to the Afternoon of Spring Fun for Families between 1:30 and 3:30 in Fann Street and Golden Lane and find our how to enter.

There will also be opportunities to do a little gentle gardening. There are herbs to plant out under the fruit trees in the community orchard on Fann Street (from 2 PM), Fann Street wildlife garden will be open - and the Golden Lane 'Baggers' allotments will also be open with guided tours. There is a plant stall and refreshments in the Sir Ralph Perring Room next to the Golden Lane allotments. For children there are sunflower seeds to sow in pots to take home and a wildlife themed Treasure Hunt.

Barbican Estate Office

Closure of Seddon staircase 13 L01 7th May

From the BEO:

Please be aware that the Seddon staircase 13 level 01 (outside the office) entrance will be closed on Wednesday 7th May from 10am to 4pm for repairs to the floor. Please use alternative routes, such as the spiral stairs behind Lauderdale Tower.

Barbican Estate Office

Skydweller

This is a time-lapse film and a reading.  It looks like it is filmed from Shakespeare Tower:

Click the image to see the film

Thames Water seeks leak

Thames water have sent out notice that they will be investigating a water leak by installing meters at various points on their network, including on pipes leading to Ben Jonson House. These new meters will not be used for billing purposes, just for finding the leak. Or so they say ...

Lifts: When moving large items

From the BEO:

The Lease states that bulky items must not be transported in the lift between the hours of sunset and 8am. So any other time is fine, including the weekends.

Residents can request a lift preference key from the car park attendant if they need to close the lift off for a few hours to move out. However, on the staircase blocks, e.g. Defoe House, if the lift is required for (say emergency services) the lift can be turned back on.

The estate office also advises that lift covers can also be requested via the car park attendant.