GAG on the BJ Highwalk - Mon 2nd Mar. @ 10.00

From the Gardens Advisory Group (GAG):

The GAG is doing one of its regular walkabouts with Helen Davinson from the BEO, Louisa Allen the City gardens Manager and Geoff the Barbican gardener on Monday at 10.00.

Sorry it's such short notice – but if any residents from BJ would like to join us to see what the gardeners have been doing in their neck of the woods and to raise any issues about the planting and maintenance they would be very welcome to join us. We are meeting at the BEO at 10.00.

Best wishes

BEO Reception being redecorated

From the BEO:

Dear Resident,

Please be aware that the Estate Office reception will be having a refurbishment. Works are set to start on Monday 2 March and will last approximately 6 weeks. Reception will remain open throughout this time but please excuse our appearance.

If you have any queries, please do call your House Officer.

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Water Checks - long term agreement

The City has given notice that it is about to enter into a long term agreement for water checks and monitoring.  The costs of this will find it's way onto our service charge.

Click this image for the full version

House Group AGM: 25th March

A reminder that the Ben Jonson House Group AGM will be held on the 25th March in the Lilac Room.

If there is something you would like to see on the agenda please send a message using the email form below or comment on this post.

Arts Centre Residents Meeting - 30th March

From the BEO:

Barbican Centre – Bi-Annual Residents Meeting
Monday 30th March 2015
6.30–7.30pm 

The Barbican Centre’s next bi-annual residents’ meeting will be on Monday 30th March, hosted by the Chairman of the Barbican Centre Board, John Tomlinson.  

The meeting will start at 6.30pm and will be held in the Frobisher Rooms 1 & 2 on level 4 of the Barbican Centre, with tea and coffee available from 6.15pm. 

So that we have some indication on the number of attendees, if you would like to attend the meeting please confirm by email, using the link below, or by phoning 020 7382 7005. We would ask that attendees are limited to 2 people per household. 

We look forward to seeing you then.
RSVP to residents@barbican.org.uk

LFS: Outcome from the Drop-In

Last Thursday the London Film School held a drop-in session for residents (c.f. blog posting here about it).

Unfortunately I was unable to attend.  If you attended please do let us know of anything interesting you found out (either comment on this posting or send an email using the form below).

We had asked that notices be placed in the lifts advertising the meeting for the week prior, but this did not happen.  Apologies for that.

Family walk Saturday 14th February

From the BEO:

Dear all

There is a fun-filled guided family walk, a Rainbow walk, in the City on Saturday 14^th February starting at 1pm from John Cass Foundation Primary School.  The walk is targeted at Sir John Cass families but other families are welcome to join us.  The Rainbow walk route is buggy friendly and we suggest a maximum of two children per adult. 

Flier attached for your information.

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Dementia Awareness: Thu 5 March

From the BA:

Dear Residents


A Dementia Awareness session is being run for Barbican residents on Thursday 5 March at 3 pm in the Lilac Room*

As part of the local authority's policy of making the City a dementia friendly environment, the Department of Children's and Community Services is running a series of dementia awareness information sessions for anyone who is interested. The Barbican Association has therefore organised this session for Barbican residents on Thursday 5 March.

"The session aims to dispel myths often perpetuated in the media, and by the end participants will have a basic understanding of the five main areas of dementia and how to live well with dementia".
The session lasts 60 minutes and will be interactive, enabling participants to share knowledge and experiences.

If you would like to attend please email chairBA@btinternet.com. Places are limited, so please act soon.

As well as supporting this session – open to all residents – the Barbican Association would like to gauge interest, so if you would like to come to this session but can't make it, or would like to come but can only make an evening session please also let us know. If there is enough interest more sessions will be run.

*Accessed via Seddon House, north, level 02

Historical view to the east

A post on Barbican Talk shows two painted views looking east across the site of the Barbican Estate before building even started:

A later post in the same thread links to an interesting article about how London Wall has changed from how it appeared in the 60s and today.  Here is just one of the many images from that article:

LFS - the latest plans

You can see the latest form of the plans for the London Film School here.  If you'd like to borrow a paper copy of these plans printed on A3 paper, let me know.

If you look out over where the school will be, either from the west across Golden Lane or from the east across the service yard, please think about how the changes might affect you.  Will light from the new windows (looking both west and east!) affect you?  What about noise?  We understand that the planning application will go in at the end of this month (Feb 2015), so it would be good to have your views ready to contribute to the process.

Something like this

This is what Exhibition Hall 2 looks like

This image is taken from a PDF on the arts centre web site here.  There is some talk of this being the new home for the Barbican library.

Click on the image to zoom in

Barbican Estate Redecoration Works

From the City:

Dear House Group Chairs and representatives,

We write to advise you of the department's intention to commence a procurement process for a redecoration contractor.

The intention is to procure a longer term contract for redecoration works for a number of blocks, This is a change from the current approach of procuring individual short-term contracts for one or two blocks. The reason for the change is that we are confident this approach will yield cost savings for residents.

The same quality requirements will be used to specify the work, as used in previous redecoration projects.

Some concerns have been raised regarding flexibility within a longer term contract, for example, if works needed to be brought forward or pushed back, subject to condition surveys. We have sought contractual advice on this point, and we are able to use a contract type which allows for such flexibility, for example, a contract which guarantees a minimum level of work and sets out, but does not guarantee, the maximum amount of work.

The programme is attached for your reference. The works have been planned using the cycle of 7 years for external redecorations and 10 years for internal redecorations, subject to condition surveys. (N.B. not all blocks are part of this programme, as such, for some Chairs and Representatives this is for information.)

In December 2014, the Barbican Residential Committee approved the project, subject to further consultation with House Groups.

If you or your members have any comments, I would be grateful if they could be returned by Friday 6^th February.

Full statutory Section 20 lessee consultation will then be carried out prior to any procurement commencing.

Please do let me know if you have any questions or require any further information.

Kind regards,

Amy

Amy Carter
Asset Programme Manager

City of London

Update on VFM Internet installation

From VFM:


Dear Residents,

AN UPDATE ON YOUR ULTRA-FAST BROADBAND INSTALLATION

I am very pleased to report that good progress is continuing to be made across the Estate. Over 100 residents are now fully connected and using the fastest residential broadband in London.

In the Towers

Our engineers have completed the Fibre Optic rollout to Shakespeare, Lauderdale and Cromwell Towers and customers are now receiving Ultra-fast Broadband Services. Free WiFi coverage will be provided in the lobby areas for residents to try our service within the next 2 weeks.

Which Blocks are Next ?

Andrewes and Defoe House - Residents are being contacted to complete the sign-up process and can now begin booking installation dates from the 09/02/15.

Ben Johnson, Thomas More, Gilbert and Speed Houses – our support team will be releasing sign-up emails to pre-registered residents from 16/02/15 with installs commencing the beginning of March.

Willoughby, Seddon and Breton Houses together with Frobisher Crescent – are planned for customer installations to commence from the end of March with the remaining blocks to follow.

Free Installation extended!

Good news! We have extended the free installation period until the end of April 2015. This will allow more residents to take advantage of our ultra-fast broadband and telephony services.

A quick reminder - if you have already registered your interest, you don't need to do a thing. We will contact you directly via email two weeks before your location is ready for installation with an update. We will then confirm your chosen package and payment details. Once you have confirmed this we can arrange a convenient date and time for your installation to take place.

Working in service duct areas – We have been contacted by a number of residents regarding the work we are carrying out in the service ducts next to their property even though they have not signed up for any services. The reason for this is that the ducts serve a number of properties on that floor and we need to install a connection for those that have registered an interest. We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause

Not yet registered – please visit www.visionfibremedia.com and enter 1971 as the access code to view our packages and register.

If you have any questions about our service or installations please do not hesitate to contact us at: support@visionfibremedia.com

Many thanks,
Vision Fibre Media Support
Tel: 020 3419 0030

Vision Fibre Media Ltd
97-101 Cleveland Street
London
W1T 6PL

* RRP of the basic installation service is £200 and is offered free of charge under this promotion. Any different or additional installation options you choose will incur additional charges. This promotional offer expires on 30th April 2015.

What to do in a fire emergency

See the City of London Fire Safety Advice page. 

The advice from the Fire Brigade is as follows:-

The Barbican has been built to protect residents in the event of a fire, so do not automatically assume you must leave your flat. The emergency services will decide whether the building needs to be evacuated. If it does, use your front door and stairs unless the fire/smoke prevents this, in which case use your balcony.

Basic Advice

Familiarise yourself with the escape route from your flat before an emergency. For most flats this is using a staircase (NEVER A LIFT) or your balcony.

Keep all emergency access routes clear: your life or those of your family or neighbours could be endangered if you do not. Large plants or furniture should not be stored on balconies for this reason.

If the fire is in your flat:

• Do not stay to fight a fire unless you can extinguish it immediately. 
• Evacuate everyone in the flat. 
• Close all doors behind you. 
• Call the Fire Brigade.
• Call your Lobby Porter/Car Park Attendant.

If you detect a fire in another part of your building:

• Stay in your home unless evacuated by emergency services. 
• Call the Fire Brigade, do not tackle the fire yourself.
• Close all doors and windows to restrict the spread of smoke. 
• If you become affected by the heat or smoke, leave the flat, as described above.

There have been very few fires on the Barbican Estate. Most have started in kitchens so residents may wish to keep a kitchen extinguisher or fire blanket nearby.

The London Fire Brigade will carry out a fire safety check, see contact list.

If in doubt, ask the BEO.

General Advice for Fire Prevention

• It is worthwhile investing in a smoke alarm. The battery should be renewed each year to ensure the alarm is working effectively.
• Avoid calor gas, paraffin or electric bar fires wherever possible. Instead use plug in radiators with safety electric plugs.
• Do not block access points in your flat or the communal areas of your block. 
• Do not use rooms for storage or as workshops. 
• Do not overload electrical sockets, cover convector heaters or leave lit candles and heaters close to curtains and furniture.
• Ensure electrical equipment is regularly serviced.

The car park attendants all have details about the emergency service access points.

There are no smoke alarms in the communal corridors.  Building Regs at the time would probably not have enforced this.

Residents are advised to install their own smoke alarms and test this regularly. BEO install smoke alarms for City of London tenants, and we renew the batteries regularly.

Crossrail: Barbican Station Work 6-9th Feb

Message below sent on behalf of Crossrail:

Crossrail Farringdon: Eastern Ticket Hall Bridge Link to Barbican Station Works, 6 to 9 February 2015

Preparatory works are underway to enable us to install the connecting step free access link bridge between the new ticket hall and Barbican station. To carry out the works safely and with minimal disruption, we are carrying out these works at the same time London Underground has planned engineering works, when the tube operation is suspended.

You can read our information sheet with full detail of the works and tube suspension here.

Kind regards,

Crossrail Helpdesk
Crossrail Limited | FREEPOST CROSSRAIL (no stamp required)
Tel: 020 3229 9100 | Helpdesk (24hr) 0345 602 3813