External Redecorations: Week 18

At the end of week 18 (w/c 24th Nov) of the external redecoration the scaffolding around Golden Lane is starting to come down.   With the scaffolding and netting in place north facing rooms were much darker.  It's good to have the light back.

Main decoration work is now underway on the eastern part of the block.

Until this week I've had overwhelmingly positive feedback.  This week though, for the more eastern work, I've been told that the finishes are not so good and that new paint is blistering already with people suspecting the poorer weather of late being a factor.

Do let Sheila Delaney (our house officer) and Steve Murray (redecoration project lead for the BEO) know if you have any problems with the work.  Do let them know as soon as you can.

Resident Bulb Planting - a great success

Dear Resident,

A big thank you to all the residents who joined the bulb planting days. Both days were a great success and we'll definitely look to do more of these kind of events in the future. Please find attached a write up by Sarah Hudson on the days.

Barbican Estate Office 

Does a mat matter?

Some residents of Ben Jonson House have a door mat outside their door in the hallway.  One such mat has very recently gone missing!

While annoying for the ex-mat owner, this may not seem like big news, but a similar mystery in another block in the Barbican was solved when mats turned up in a heap at the top of a quiet stairwell, along with drug taking paraphernalia.  Oh, yes.

So if you happen to use the stairs and come across a pile of mats, or if your mat goes missing, please let the CPA know.

(Police, BEO and house officers are aware)

Electrical Vehicle Survey - 2014

Dear Residents  

The Barbican Estate Office is looking to seek funding for introducing charging facilities for Electrical Vehicles into one or more of its Car Parks.

Officers are currently liaising with neighbouring housing estates, TfL, EDF, main car dealerships and the City of London's Department of the Built Environment.

To assist us in ascertaining demand in various parts of the Estate, could you please spare a few minutes to complete this short survey regarding Electrical Vehicles and their charging facilities by clicking on the link below.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YCQQ7RX

The deadline for responses is Friday 5 December. 

With Regards

Barbican Estate Office

Barbican Association Events: Dates for your diary

Dear Residents

The BA is running a series of events early next year, both social and serious. Please note them in your diaries – and come along!

19 January – BA Quiz

7 pm, Artillery Arms, Bunhill Row

The Barbican Association invites you to an entertaining quiz to be held in the Artillery Arms in Bunhill Row on Monday 19th January - meet in the bar at about 7 p.m. for a start at 7.30.
Come with friends or on your own - teams of five or six will be made up on the evening.

*The cost of £12 per person will include a substantial buffet, to be served mid-way through the evening.

21 January – Meeting with Crossrail

6.45 pm, City of London School for Girls

At the meeting Crossrail will update residents shortly before the tunnels come under the estate and will talk about future work and the operation of the railway. If you have any questions you would like to ask please email them to chairBA@btinternet.com

24 February – Meeting with the Town Clerk

7 pm, City of London School for Girls

John Barradell, the City of London's Town Clerk, will report back on issues discussed at last year's meeting and answer residents' questions.

If you have any questions you would like to ask please email them to chairBA@btinternet.com

 

2 March – Wine tasting

At El Vino's, 3 Bastion Highwalk, London Wall

The Barbican Association invites you to a wine tasting "Around the world in two hours" on Monday 2 March 19th January at 7.30 pm

*The cost of £37.50 per head covers a glass of Prosecco on arrival, a substantial buffet, and a prize for the quiz at the end of the tasting.

External Redecorations: Week 17

At the end of week 17 (w/c 17th Nov) of the external redecoration.

The work on the eastern part of Ben Jonson House is well under way.   The bridge across Golden lane is in place and being used by the decorators.

Please do add a comment to this post or send a message to the house group committee if you have anything you'd like to sat about the redecoration.

Here 'til Christmas?

Washing Beech St. "tunnel"

...Washing of Beech Street is carried as follows;

1. Monday – Friday daily – between 06:30am – 08:00am, Carriageway washed, this is carried out as part of the Smithfield market washing regime by the tanker. (please note in winter that washing is cancelled if temperatures are low/Icy conditions or snow falling.

2. Weekly on Friday night shift carriageway and footway flushed by night flushing team.

3. Every six months (twice a year) Tunnel walls/panels and signs washed as part of the Non illuminated cleaning contract.

Transportation & Public Realm
Department of the Built Environment.
City Of London

LFS Residents Meeting Mon24th 18:30

The Breton House Group have organised a residents meeting to discuss the London Film School's move to the Barbican, and all Barbican residents are welcome to come along.

This meeting is about all aspects of the impact of the LFS upon residents including but not limited to:

• Noise from construction
• Noise from operation
• Whether residents can attend Film School events
• Whether the highwalk above the LFS will get the Beech Gardens treatment
• Will the Yellow Shed be knocked down as part of the work

... etc

The meeting will be held on Monday 24th at 18:30 in the Lilac Room.

There is also an email address for feedback regarding the LFS move:

• lfsfeedback@btinternet.com

Cultural Hub - 1st Dec meeting

Dear Residents

Do come and find out about the Cultural Hub and what it means for the Barbican Estate.

Monday 1 December 6.30 Weston Theatre, Museum of London

What is the cultural hub?
What plans for development do the Barbican Arts Centre and the Museum of London have?
How might these plans affect the Barbican area?

Come and hear the directors of the Arts Centre and the Museum of London answer these and other questions.

The Barbican Association has invited Sir Nicholas Kenyon, director of the Barbican Arts Centre, and Sharon Ament, director of the Museum of London, to talk to residents about the area review, the cultural hub, and their plans for their respective organisations. This meeting will enable them to present their ideas and offer residents an opportunity to comment and ask questions.

We hope that you will come along and hear them.

Chair BA, chairBA@btinternet.com

Local Planning Update

Planning applications for week ending 14th November:  The only application near us is for listed building consent for 3 White Lyon Court (14/01086/LBC), to accompany last week's planning application 14/01085/FULL. Bunyan House Group have suggested we ask for a condition to limit the hours the premises can open to the public, to 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday and 9.30am - 5pm Saturday, which I think we should do.

Chair, Barbican Association Planning Committee

External Redecorations: Week 16

At the end of week 16 (w/c 10th Nov) of the external redecoration project we now have the bridge over Golden Lane, so work on the northern facing parts of  Ben Jonson House over the road can start.

I understand this bridge will be in place until mid December.

Breton House in almost done.  They only needed scaffolding for the decoration of the barrel roofs.  Everything else could be done by just walking around the balconies.

Back at Ben Jonson House, scaffolding is now moving along the eastern most part of the house.

Will it be all over for Christmas?

Parcel Service Survey

From the BEO:

Dear Residents 

In the last 12 months the Barbican Estate Concierge/Car Park Attendant staff received over 66,000 parcels on behalf of residents.

The Residents Consultation Committee has set up a Parcel Tracking Working Party which is looking at the current system and reviewing possible improvements.
To assist the Working Party, could you please spare a few minutes to complete this short survey regarding the Barbican Estate's Parcel Service by clicking on the link below.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ParcelServiceSurvery
The deadline for responses is Thursday 20 November.

Kind Regards
Barbican Estate Office

Update on TV/Internet installation by VFM

From VFM:

Dear Resident, 

UPDATE ON ULTRA-FAST BROADBAND INSTALLATION 

You may have noticed Vision Fibre Media engineers on site, preparing for the first ultra-fast broadband installs on the Estate.

The following work has been completed in the last two weeks:
· Initial fibre installed and connected in Lauderdale, Shakespeare and Cromwell Towers.
· Fibre infrastructure installed in Shakespeare Tower. 

Next week, the following work is going ahead:
· Cabling at Frobisher Crescent.
· Completion of the link between the towers and Frobisher. 

This all means that we are still on track to begin installations for residents in Shakespeare and Lauderdale Towers later this month, and continue the planned rollout across the rest of the estate throughout December and January.

HAVEN'T REGISTERED YET?
If you haven't already registered your interest in our ultra-fast broadband service, visit our website at www.visionfi­bremedia.com and click on the register button, entering 1971 as a new customer access code. Then complete your details to register. 

ALREADY REGISTERED?
If you have already registered your interest, then you don't need to do a thing. We will contact you via email two weeks before your location's ready for service date to confirm your chosen package and payment details. Following this, we can arrange a convenient time for your installation to take place.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to email us at support@visionfibremedia.com. 

Many thanks,
Vision Fibre Media Support

External Redecorations: Week 15

We're at the end of week 15 (w/c 3rd Nov) of the external redecoration project.

Here is an update from Steve Murray.  Note in particular that the scaffolding around Golden Lane will be in place until (assuming the plans don't change) 14th Dec.  Another month.  Here is Steve's note :

We now have confirmation on the road closure to erect the scaffold over Golden Lane, this will be done next weekend 15th / 16th Nov with it being dismantled 13th / 14th Dec, the main works will be at street level to build up to the height of the podium as we are not going to allow works outside residents windows at this time, the rest can be erected as normal during the week. 

Sheila is also going to put a notice up in the lifts etc…for this 

Breton House is now nigh on complete with works going to programme on the third stage of Ben J. 

A letter has gone out already but you may want to remind the residents that we have a walk around planned for Ben Jonson @2pm and Breton @3pm next Wednesday where they can bring any issues up or of course pass on any feedback. 

Thanks, Steve
Steven.murray@cityoflondon.gov.uk
0207 029 3915
07786 855 580

LFS Residents Meeting Notes (from 2014-11-05 meeting)

A resident of Ben Jonson House who attended the meeting made the following rather excellent notes (below). 

The panel meeting was chaired by Michel Dick of the Barbican Centre.  On the panel were Margaret Matheson (LFS governor), Phil Eliot (LFS project manager), Mike Leigh (chair of LFS governors), Jane Roscoe (LFS director), Jane Bird (architects), James Taylor (architects), Tim Mander (structural engineers), Andrew Warrack (building services consultants),  Helene Evans (acoustics & noise).

The recording mentioned in the notes used my recorder and you can get the recording here.  I'm afraid the recorder ran out of space after only 20 minutes.  My fault, sorry.  The first 20 minutes are interesting though, and contain an introduction by Mike Leigh (@6:45), a summary of the project by the LFS director Jane Roscoe (@12:20), Jane Bird (@15:30) and James Taylor (@21:40) - with recording chopped @22:26.

LONDON FILM SCHOOL MEETING 5/11/14 

Michel Dick, Barbican Director of Operations and Buildings, confirmed he had no objection to a recording of this evening’s proceedings and so I started the gadget, as you showed me, and placed it on the top table. This was at 6.30pm. However I fear for the results since when I went to switch it off some 65 minutes later (when the formal business ended and inspection of layout drawings and the “general mingle” started), the timer had seemingly stopped and the display showed “CARD FULL”.   

I do hope that the majority of the meeting at least will have been recorded. If it has you are likely to hear a background of various pyrotechnics due to a nearby firework display. There was a sound system in use but I think this was to enable the proceedings to be heard by the audience rather than for a recording by the LFS. 

For what it’s worth I think there were about 50 - 60 residents present, several of whom expressed support for the scheme despite them mostly having certain personal concerns derived from experiences when the cinemas were being built (and loading and unloading in the area between Ben Jonson and the Prior Weston Campus for the restaurant since then). [Nobody expressed opposition to the scheme.] Questioners included Robert Barker (RB) who asked several questions and will doubtless have a comprehensive recollection of what was said, despite taking no notes. One questioner had it confirmed that the LFS are using the same firm of architects and acousticians who were responsible for the redevelopment of Prior Weston School, which should add to residents’ confidence about this project.

LFS said there had been a pre planning application meeting with the Planners on 1/10/14 which went well and that it is their intention to submit the Planning Application in mid February 2015 with another meeting with residents before that happens. RB said he thought that timetable rather optimistic if, as he hoped, the purpose of that next residents’ meeting is to be meaningful and take on board residents’ concerns and is not just to inform us. 

Based on a February 2015 planning application date LFS anticipate that necessary preparatory works by the City would be carried out during 2015 with the School’s construction works starting in May 2016 with a view to the Film School opening in September 2017. [There might ultimately be a maximum of 130 students at the school but they would come from an older age group than traditional students and would be paying a great deal of money to study there.] There would be some potentially noisy work (to be carefully controlled) to break through the concrete slab in places to provide certain double height areas. Unlike Crossrail the LFS work would not entail tunnelling underneath either Breton or Ben Jonson so they did not anticipate any cracks appearing in any flat.  

At some stage there is going to be a need for podium waterproofing work above Cinemas 2 and 3 and the new Film School but there is at present no money for that. They also first need to evaluate the effectiveness of the waterproofing work currently being carried out at the Aldersgate Street end of the podium. It is not anticipated that the irrigation system to the planted areas anywhere on this part of the podium would be restored as that adds to the likelihood of leakage. 

[One member of the audience was] unhappy about the new cinemas façade, expressed concerns about the design of the entrance to the Film School on Golden Lane. However Mike Leigh reassured him that the LFS has impeccable taste and that the entrance should be the least of anybody’s worries.

Lord Mayor's Show - Saturday November 8th

From the BEO:

Dear Residents,

Please find useful information including details of road closures for Saturday November 8^th.

http://lordmayorsshow.london/ 

With regards Barbican Estate Office

External Redecorations: Week 14 (with squirrels!)

We're at the end of week 14 (w/c 27th Oct) of the external redecoration project.

We still have the scaffolding up around Golden Lane, and it will have to stay there for some time. Golden Lane must be closed while a scaffolding bridge is built, the flats above Golden Lane must then be painted and, the bridge taken down again.  A resident heard that the scaffolding would be around in this location until Christmas(!)  I've asked Mr. Murray what the plan is for this bit of the project.

... and, as a result of the scaffolding, there was a break-in this morning! ... by a squirrel. The affected resident tackled and ejected the intruder without too much difficulty, but beware!  Don't leave windows open wide enough for greys while the opening is unattended.

I also heard a report that one of the storage room doors was painted while closed, and was stuck shut when a resident visited.  I've let Steve know about this too.

Puddles persist

We had some fairly heavy rain this morning and now have some quite big puddles.  Hope we get these fixed for the winter!

Still plugged

New Bike Racks on Golden Lane

Some shiny new bike racks have appeared on Golden Lane right outside the UBS building:

Brand spanking

VFM Internet/Phone rollout to BJH in November

VFM have sent out a notice explaining the schedule for the rollout of their fibre service which will support connection to the Internet, telephone and, from February, TV.

To register your interest visit their web site http://www.visionfibremedia.com, click on the register button and enter 1971 as the new customer access code.  Then enter your details.   I did this again, just to be sure, even though I'd done exactly the same thing earlier in the year.

If you act now will not have to pay the VFM "basic installation service fee" of £200.  If you miss the initial installation window you will have to pay this fee.

The pricing for Internet access remains unchanged from earlier this year.  There are 4 packages offering different bandwidths.  For each package you'll pay a £15 monthly 'line fee' plus the package specific fee:
Zip:  20Mbps (~4 times faster than I get now) £5pcm
Dash: 50Mbps £10pcm
Rush: 100Mbps £20pcm
Lightning: 1Gbps £55pcm

London Film School Residents Meeting 5 November @ 18:30

The London Film School plans to move to the Barbican are moving along.  There will be a meeting for residents next Wednesday:

London Film School / Barbican - Residents

to be held
on 5th November 6.30 to 8 pm
to be held at The Last Stand Exhibition Hall One -The Last Stand Exhibition Hall One -Location: Junction of Beech Street and Golden Lane


1. Attendees representing the City of London and London Film School
Michael Dick Director of Operations
Alex Bentley City Of London
Mike Leigh Chair of Governors London Film School
Sir Michael Wakeford Governor London Film School
Jane Roscoe Director London Film School
Jayne Bird Partner Nicholas Hare Architects
James Taylor Senior Architect Nicholas Hare Architects
Phil Elliot Project Manager Gardiner &Theobald LLP
Helene Evans: Acoustician, Hoare Lea
Tim Mander: Structural Engineer, Intregral Structural Design
Andrew Warrack: M&E Consultan,t Hoare Lea

2. Introductions by Michael Dick who will Chair the meeting – (5 mins)

3. Introduction of the vision for the City of London for London Film school moving into Exhibition Hall One with a little background – MD – (5 mins)

4. Introduction of LFS – the organisation who it is, what it does, opening hours, impact on the residents in use - its aspirations and why the Barbican – JR (10 mins)

5. Introduction of the proposed Scheme – Scope of works – functional aspects of the building, and how the building will work and impact on the residents – JB (10mins)

6. Programme – PE (5 mins)

7. Question and Answer session say 30 mins

8. General Mingle – some of the layout drawings will be on display and the representatives of LFS and The barbican will remain to talk about the scheme in a more informal way - (30 mins)

9. 8 pm Meeting Close