Getting the BEO to use a blog

I've been pressing the BEO to set and run a blog like this one.  I think it would be an excellent way to keep everyone up to date. Of course not everybody likes to read blogs or even use the Internet, so notice boards and flyers should be used as they are now to present key items from the blog, but the blog would be the primary source and lasting journal. The journal bit is important as it lets residents (old and new) look back at what was said & when.

The BEO responded to say that the recent survey of residents showed that people were very happy indeed with the current communications arrangements. How can one argue with that?

Here is the BEO response:

The BEO have just conducted their annual residents survey and a report is being presented to our September committees – [see here]. There were 500 respondents and a question was asked about communications:

“How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the way the Barbican Estate Office keeps you informed about issues that may affect you eg Barbicanews/email broadcasts/noticeboards/website etc?”

The results for this question was:

Communications - 91% was achieved in the “satisfied” or “very satisfied” categories in the methods of keeping the Barbican residents informed about matters that concern them. This is an increase of 4% from 2013. This year 3% were dissatisfied, down from 6% in 2013. We are particularly pleased with the increase in satisfaction as a lot of thought and work has gone into establishing the communications protocol for the Barbican Estate.

The BEO take these results as a measure of how well we are doing on communications. Just for your information the COL does not offer or support a blog service for Departments so this would not be an option. Hope that this clarifies the position.

Results of the BEO's Residents Survey

Every year the BEO send out a survey to residents which covers everything from Major Works to Communication. In summary this year the BEO says:

Satisfaction levels are high but we will aim to improve service levels where results have identified areas of concern by ongoing stringent monitoring of the Service Level Agreements, block and estate inspections, monthly meetings with the service providers and responding to residents’ comments.

Lots of detail in the report:

Really big puddles

After the heavy rain yesterday there are very large puddles on the highwalks.  This one almost block the route from Ben Jonson House to the south, and looks dangerously close to the door into the building:

More like a moat

Right into Golden Lane - for bikes

A change has been made to the junction between Beech St. and Golden lane allowing cyclists to make right turns ...

Right for bikes

The popular "ugly" barbican

An article about the Barbican has appeared in the Wall St. Journal. Here's a snippet:

Living at the Barbican comes with some quirks. It's listed with English Heritage, a government agency charged with preserving buildings and objects of historic interest, so there are restrictions on renovations for some of the original apartments. Residents are cautioned not to play music so loud that neighbors can hear it—a sensitive issue, as the apartments are linked by outdoor walkways—and they're supposed to have carpets on their floors to soften sound. Residents of lower floors are encouraged to keep flower boxes on their balconies—though apparent slippage on this rule spurred the cover story "Where have all the flowers gone?" in the most recent issue of Barbican Life magazine.

Click on the image to go to the article:

Better than it looks?

External Redecorations: Week 4

This (w/c Mon 18th) is week 4 of the external redecoration. I have had no written update from the BEO, I think because the officer running the programme is on vacation.

We did get a newsletter from K&M this week which was posted on notice boards and, I understand, through the doors of flats at the western end of Ben Jonson House.

Do let me know (email form at the bottom of this page) if you have any interesting tales to tell about the redecoration. Perhaps there are things residents at the eastern end can learn from those to the west.

Here is the K&M newsletter:


 

Beech St. Tunnel Reopens

The street scene work around Silk St. has finished at the junction of Beech St & Silk St., so the tunnel is now open again.

it's still not a tunnel

New style traffic management bulletins

The traffic management bulletins sent out by the City are improving.  It used to be they'd only send them as out as Microsoft Word documents, then the agreed to send PDFs too, and now...

Share Tweet Forward Weekly update on planned road closures in the Square Mile 14 August 2014 View our new email in your browser Latest news Our Traffic Management bulletin had a makeover. Tell us what you think. Consultation on the streets and spaces in the Barbican area is currently taking place. You can comment here: http://barbicanarea.co.uk/    Starting this week - 15 August to 21 August road closures this weekend only Street Location Ward Poultry (westbound) Mansion House St to Old Jewry Cordwainer & Walbrook Queen Street Cloak La to College St Vintry new weekday road closures Street Location Dates/Times Ward New Street Square Little New St to Bartlett Ct 18 Aug to 22 Aug Castle Baynard Queen Victoria Street Gt Trinity La to Trinity La 18 Aug to 26 Sept Vintry Rood Lane Fenchurch St to Plantation Hse 18 Aug to 22 Aug Billingsgate & Bridge Roads to reopen this week: 15 August to 21 August Street Dates/Times Ward Fore Street 15 August Cripplegate Beech Street, Chiswell Street & Whitecross Street now opened Cripplegate Existing road closures Street Until Ward Artizan Street 30 August Portsoken Bush Lane 18 August Dowgate Creechurch Place 19 September 2016 Aldgate Eldon Street & Blomfield Street 11 September 2015 Bishopsgate, Broad Street, Coleman Street Finsbury Circus (West arm) 31 December 2018 Coleman Street Finsbury Circus (East arm) 11 September 2015 Coleman Street Fish Street Hill 3 February 2016 Coleman Street Fort Street 15 September Bishopsgate Hammett Street 19 April 2016 Tower Honey Lane 15 September Cheap Houndsditch  TBC Bishopsgate Leadenhall Street (eastbound) 28 September Lime Street & Aldgate Lime Street 14 September Langbourn, Lime Street & Aldgate Liverpool Street 31 December 2018 Bishopsgate Middlesex Street 18 May 2015 Portsoken Minories, Portsoken Street & Crosswall 20 October Tower, Portsoken Mitre Square 1 September Aldgate Paternoster Row 2 September Bread Street Philpot Lane 30 August Bridge Plough Place 8 September 2015 Castle Baynard St Alphage Garden 1 September Bassishaw St Andrew Street (northbound) 24 September Farringdon Without St Botolph Row (pedestrians) 17 October Portsoken Silk Street (eastbound) 28 November Bassishaw, Coleman Street & Cripplegate Skinners Lane 31 December Vintry South Place (westbound) 11 September 2015 Coleman Street St James's Passage (pedestrians) 1 September Aldgate Throgmorton Street 1 August 2016 Broad Street & Walbrook Walbrook 5 January 2015 Cordwainer, Walbrook View road works, closures and planned clear routes through the Square Mile on our interactive map This week, the road closure free route through the City of London: Eastbound Fleet Street, Ludgate Circus, Ludgate Hill, St Paul's Churchyard, Cannon Street, Eastcheap & Great Tower Street Westbound Aldgate High St, Dukes Place, Bevis Marks, Camomile St, Wormwood St, London Wall, St Martin's Le Grand, New Change, St Paul's Churchyard, Ludgate Hill & Fleet Street Southbound Norton Folgate, Bishopsgate, Gracechurch Street & London Bridge Northbound London Bridge, Gracechurch Street, Bishopsgate & Norton Folgate

...

Victor's seats - hanging around

We were due to see the back of Victor's seats by the end of June according to a schedule I was given in April.

The latest information I've been given is that it's taken longer than expected to work out how to fit the facsimiles of the original seating to the varied mounting points on Ben Jonson Highwalk. Among the many problems with Victor's seats, the fact that they don't even correctly fit where they've been placed is whopper, so it's good that the City is taking care to make this good.

There is currently no new schedule as far as I'm aware.

I've never used the Freedom of Information mechanisms. I think a good test case would be asking for the cost of surprising residents by designing and installing Victor's seats, destroying the originals and now making facsimiles of the originals and tearing out Victor's seats to install the facsimiles.

And over on St. Giles Terrace we see that Victor's seats are not standing the test of time.  The old seating was there for decades, the new stuff has only been there for a little while, and yet:

Victor's seats:  bent out of shape

'Barbecana' - surreal

the Barbican Estate is turned into an augmented reality playground in Barbecana.  Click on this image to see the short film ...

Game on

Drain Work Soon

From the BEO Property Services Team Manager:

I will have a jetting machine starting works on the podium Friday next week [22nd Aug] with the more problematic drains being tackled first on the podium so by the following week there will be improvements to the ponding we have at present.

External Redecorations: Week 3

This (w/c Mon 11th) is week 3 of the external redecoration , and there is some visible action as the scaffold goes up.

From the project manager:

... scaffolding is all going to programme and hope to be in a position to sign off as ready to work off around the end of next week [week 4] – works at roof level that do not disrupt residents has been continuing – from next week it is likely that residents will start to see the presence of painters on higher level balconies painting soffits etc….

The contractors, K&M McLoughlin (assisted by our house officer), will be sending out a newsletter next week telling us what we can expect over the coming weeks.

The coming of the scaffold

How the Jugged Hare helps keep noise down

The nice people at the Jugged Hare have volunteered to ask people drinking outside to only stand on the Chiswell St. side of the pub, leaving the Silk St. side clear.  They've even installed brass sill coverings on the Chiswell St. side to make the point.

This is a good will gesture on the part of the pub.  The City licensing committee refused to make it a condition of the license.

Where there's brass, there's drinkers

Moorgate Shaft Open Day No 2

From the BEO:

Dear Residents

MOORGATE SHAFT Open Day: 31 August 2014

Following the success of the first open day held on 11 January 2014 for Barbican residents, Crossrail's contractors BNK Joint Venture are again opening the doors to the Crossrail Moorgate Shaft and inviting you once more to come and see the progress made on the work site.  The attachment shows you how to book a tour.

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Measuring NO2 around the Barbican

The sustainability committee of the Barbican Association are running a long term project to measure air pollution around the estate.  Volunteers keep measuring tubes attached to their railings, replacing them every month, sending in the exposed tubes to a lab.

Here is some feedback from the project:

Beech Street closure: The July results should be worth looking at when they are mapped. With Beech Street closed to through traffic for the entire period it will be interesting to see what effect this has had on readings from sites to the north of the estate. The London Air Quality Network monitor in Beech Street has recorded substantially lower levels of NO2 since the closure. These dropped by 55% - comparing hourly average levels for the 10 days prior to the closure with the 10 days since - as can be seen in this graph.

Importantly, the EU health-based target limit for NO2 levels of 200 µg/m3 (hourly average) was breached 14 times in the 10 days prior to closure but was not breached in the 10 days since. The permitted number of exceedences per year is 18. I will be updating these figures for the entire period of closure and will send them out to you shortly.

Barbican Area Strategy Review

If you would like to let the City know about your views on air quality and what you would like the City to do about improving it – then please have your say in the Barbican Area Strategy Review. The City is gathering information in several different ways – you can fill in the questionnaire that was posted to your address, or give your views On line: A dedicated website has been set up http://barbicanarea.co.uk/. This includes an online questionnaire and an interactive map where you can provide comments and upload film clips or images. Or,

Visit the exhibition and drop-in sessions: Public drop-in sessions where staff will be in attendance will be held on Thursday 31 July and 7 and 14 August and Tuesday 5, 12 and 19 August from 12:30-2pm and 6:00-7:30pm. The exhibition will be in place on Level G in the Barbican Centre foyer apart from 7 August only, where it will be in the Silk Street entrance foyer.

If you would like more information on the project and the public consultation please go to www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/barbicanarea or email BarbicanArea@cityoflondon.gov.uk or contact the project manager, Steve Miles via 020 7606 3030.

Silk Street - update on Beech Street reopening

From the BEO:

Dear Residents,

The e-bulletin circulated last Friday stated that Beech Street and Chiswell Street would fully reopen to traffic on Wednesday 13 August. Unfortunately, due to some minor delays owing to technical issues with the road resurfacing, the reopening has been pushed back slightly; however, the streets will be open by Friday 15 August, within the programme set out at the start of works.

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Barbican Area Strategy Review

The City are running a "Strategic Review" and are seeking feedback from residents workers and visitors.

There are two web addresses, a page on the City of London site and a dedicated site for the review.   Also there are a number of dates where you can drop in to speak to people from the city.

Consultation in action

External Redecorations: Week 2

From the project manager:

not much excitement last week – a slight hold up with contracts exchanging hands but that has been resolved now – there are works being done at roof level this week that does not impact on residents, such as prep works and washing down.

From Monday coming things will be speeding up as we have the first phase of the scaffold being erected on the north elevation which will start from the western end of the building so a much bigger presence will be noticeable from then.

I have gone through with the contractor what I would like in terms of newsletters etc….to go out to all residents with an outline programme of works, this is so we can inform you all of when we anticipate to be working on each part of the block as to notify residents as best we can to let them know when we will need patio doors / windows in an open position etc….

And again: Lakes

The flooding problems continue in the same spots,  and no information from the BEO about the drainage plan.

Small dogs at risk

Fire exits - please don't block them

Please leave all fire exits clear at all times.

Don't leave me this way

External Redecorations: Week 1

I asked the BEO for a single paragraph summary of what work was done during the first week of the external redecorations.  The answer is ... not much.

I'll add further information as I get it.