The Ben Jonson House Blog: October 2015

Saturday, 31 October 2015

Fann St. Garden event - this Sunday

The forecast for this Sunday 1st November is looking good - mild and no rain - so I hope you will be able to join us for bulb planting and sowing wild flower seeds in the Fann Street wildlife garden.

Come to Fann Street at any time between 10.00 and 13.00.

Tools and gloves will be provided for adults and children.

There will also be some activities for children as well as the opportunity to help with the planting and sowing.

We'll have hot and cold drinks and biscuits - but if you can bring some to share that would be great.

Families and children very welcome.

Also a reminder that we will be planting bulbs - some lovely yellow tulips - and sowing seeds in Thomas More and Speed Gardens on Sunday 8th November.

Come to Thomas More at any time between 10.00 and 13.00.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Gnewt Cargo In Car Park - CANCELLED

From the BEO:

____

Dear Residents

Please note that due to unforeseen circumstances the letting of bays to Gnewt Cargo has been cancelled.

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

... previously ...

From: Barbican Information Listserve Account On Behalf Of Barbican Information
Sent: 28 October 2015 09:54
To: Barbican Information Listserve Account
Subject: Letting of 35 Bays to Gnewt Cargo - Breton House Car park, Barbican Estate

Dear Residents

We are pleased to announce that we have agreed a short term temporary contract with Gnewt Cargo Limited to utilise 35 of our car parking spaces in Breton House Car Park – current occupancy 48%. This additional income will help the Car Park Account, which is an independent asset of the City of London and Non-Service Charge. It will also be a good trial for possible future income generation for the car parks as part of the City's Service Based Review.

Gnewt provide an efficient and environmentally friendly service for the 'last mile' distribution of parcels and packages. This location at Breton House Car Park will enable them to make a short distance deliveries to city addresses using electrical vehicles, bicycles and pedestrian staff.

Gnewt will securely enclose a corner of Breton House Car Park with Harris fencing for a period of 8 weeks between 02/11/2015 to 27/12/2015. We welcome your feedback during this trial period. Residents with car bays within this vicinity have been contacted and temporarily relocated within the car park.

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Thursday, 29 October 2015

Fann St. bulb planting Sun 1st Nov

Bulb planting in the Fann St. Wildlife Garden on 1st November from 10:00 to 13:00:

Wednesday, 28 October 2015

Letting of 35 Bays to Gnewt Cargo - Breton House Car park, Barbican Estate

The following email from the BEO is the first the house group has heard of this. The Breton House group have put a number of questions to the BEO about this including what are the working hours and what security measures for our homes will be put in place.

____

Dear Residents

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Beech Gardens remedial work

There may be some noise at the western end of Ben Jonson House. From the BEO:

____

Dear residents

Please be aware that VolkerLaser will be carrying out remedial works to a number of areas in Beech Gardens including an area to the south end of the pond, this work will take place on Monday 2^nd, Tuesday 3^rd and Wednesday 4^th November between 10 am – 4 pm. Any noisy works, mainly noise from the generator will not be until after 10 am and will not be continuous.

With regards

Barbican Estate Office

Monday, 19 October 2015

How to be notified of new blog posts

A residents asks:

Is there anyway for regular users to be alerted say by email when there is a blog update?

And indeed there is: RSS.

You can see RSS in action on the blog itself. Notice the "other blogs..." section to the right, below the archive and labels sections. The "other blogs ..." section is automatically updated using RSS when there is a new post on Streets and Walkways site for example.

Another method is "follow by email" which I have just added. Again look to the right hand side of the blog page, below the "other blogs ..." section. Just enter your email address here to be notified when a new post appears on the blog.

BJH Repair Costs Breakdown

The BEO have responded to our request for a breakdown of the repair costs which we requested because they were 85% over estimate as reported here.

Note that the comparison below is between actual 2013/14 vs. 2014/15 and not between estimated vs. actual (which is what we asked for), but this breakdown does let us see where the money has been spent.

Water penetration is the largest single number by far (at £151,115). We will now be asking why the leaking roofs are not covered by the guarantee we were given when the roof works were done.
____

Ben Jonson House repairs comparison

	2013/14	2014/15

Drains- Contract/Routine Works	3,514.85	2,939.17
Fire Equipment - Contract	612.64
Carpentry	8,389.37	10,647.93
Concrete Repairs	169.38
Decorating	849.04	266.58
Frames - Doors and Windows	3,787.12	4,581.83
Miscellaneous Works	311.43	18.86
Metalwork	4,150.48	6,908.85
Lightning Conductors	392.00
Lock Repairs and Replacement	783.90	846.70
Expansion Joints (Other Than Water Penetration)		628.00
Glazing	6,816.13	26,395.47
Balconies (Other Than Water Penetration)	876.82	1,430.54
Drains Other	5,243.00	13,315.12
Water Penetration	58,095.08	151,115.46

Sub Total	93,991.24	219,094.51

Pest Control	906.78	986.37
General maintenance (estate wide)	7,740.35	4,782.09
Electrical repairs common parts	3,798.34	3,725.24
Electrical repairs exterior	6,919.97	6,037.02
Water supply works	4,029.65	731.07
Safety/security	14,464.81	3,576.82
Sub total	37,859.90	19,838.61

	131,851.14	238,933.12

Sunday, 18 October 2015

Milton Court Event on October 31st

From the Guildhall School of Music and Drama:
____

This email is to inform you and your residents committees that as part of their 'Sound Unbound: Classical weekender', The Barbican will be staging a concert at Milton Court between 2200 & 2300hrs.

The concert in question is a solo performance of piano and toy piano featuring Wilhelm Latchoumia playing the following programme:

Henry Cowell: First Irish Legend

John Cage: Suite for toy piano

George Antheil: Jazz Sonata

Rob Smith Schroeder: Revenge, for toy piano

John Cage: In a Landscape

Stephen Montague: Mirabella for toy piano and Almost a Lullaby

Toby Twining: Nightmare Rag for toy piano & piano

http://www.wilhemlatchoumia.com/modules/biographie/index.php?langue=EN

This concert will necessitate the use of one of our 12 permitted late night events, the first time we've done so since Milton Court was opened. Barbican Customer Experience will manage Front of House for the event But the School's duty manager and security will be on hand to ensure that the visitor management plan is adhered to and noise from patrons entering/leaving Milton Court is kept to a minimum. As per the terms of our license all patrons will have vacated Milton Court and the immediate area by 2330hrs.

If however you or any of your residents experience disruptions from patrons around Milton Court on the evening please contact the Milton Court Duty Manager in the first instance on: 07912292056 or 02076384141 (ext. 3003)

Guildhall School of Music & Drama & Barbican Centre

Silk Street, Barbican

London, EC2Y 8DT

T: 020 7382 7217

M: 077 1897 4117

Friday, 16 October 2015

Arts Centre Bi-Annual Residents Meeting - Thu 3 Dec

Message sent on behalf of the Barbican Centre:

Invitation from the Barbican Centre

Bi-Annual Residents Meeting

Thursday 3^rd December

6.30–8pm

The Barbican Centre invites you to attend an informal residents' meeting on Thursday 3rd December, hosted by the Chairman of the Barbican Centre Board John Tomlinson.

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

If you would like to attend the meeting,

We look forward to seeing you then.

RSVP Online or call 020 7382 7228.

2016 Cripplegate Wardmote on 16th March

Alderman David Graves has let me know the date of the next Wardmote.

... the Wardmote for Cripplegate will be held on Wednesday, 16 March next year at Barber-Surgeons Hall. The start time will be 7.30pm.

The Wardmote is a meeting of residents and officials of the Cripplegate ward of the City of London. It's a chance for residents to hear what our representatives within the government of the City have been doing, and it's a chance for them to hear back from residents.

Also, the alderman wears a funny hat. Well worth attending just to see that.