The 80% 2015 Maintenance Overspend - A Report

This is a follow up to the maintenance overspend saga from last year.  The actual amount of money charged to residents was 80% higher than forecast, with a significant portion of that being related to water penetration (leaky roofs).

A report on this has been produced and will be put to the RCC on 6th June.  It'll be agenda item 9 which is at page 73 of the meeting information pack (or read just the report by itself).

The roofs were repaired by 2003 and warranties were put in place, but the warranties have been invalidated.  The report says:

Roof Warranties Invalidated.

In just the last two years over £30,000 has been spent on fixing roof leaks:

... and £31k to pay

The RCC is being asked to "note the report" and make comments.  If you have comments the contact information for the RCC says to email Julie.Mayer@cityoflondon.gov.uk.

The Great Ben Jonson Moat

To the south of Ben Jonson House lies a mighty moat.  None shall pass, at least not without wellies.  The moat extends the whole length of the eastern part of Ben Jonson Highwalk from the Yellow Shed in the west to the garden beds in the east.

The eastern reaches of the moat

The moaty west end

Barbican Centre Works Notice - Sat 4 June

Our housegroup representative at Barbican Centre (the arts centre) meetings has been notified of some works taking place in the Frobisher Crescent part of the centre next weekend:

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We would like to notify you of some works scheduled for this Saturday 4th June as part of the refurbishment to the Level 4 conference suite. The works will consist of replacing 2 sections of glass on the Frobisher Crescent elevation opposite Ben Jonson House.

While it is anticipated that the works will be relatively unobtrusive to Residents, noise disturbance could arise during the following:

• Removal of the glazing as the panes could break during the process
• Some intermittent grinding of the metal window frames required to remove fixings that are no longer required.
• Fixing the new glazing beads as some drilling into the frame may be needed

The works will be carried out during the standard (Saturday) hours for noisy works between 8am – 1pm.

Best regards,

Managing Director's Office Coordinator
Barbican Centre
T: 020 7382 7228
Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS
barbican.org.uk

Residents' Planting Day - 4th June

I have no idea who is organising this.  I spotted the notice on our notice boards.

Click to zoom in

BEO Communication - could be better?

From time to time the BEO send out a survey asking for residents opinions of how they are doing.  One of the regular questions is about communication.

I'd like to suggest that the communications of the BEO could be better.  In particular I think the BEO should run a blog just like this one.  The BEO point to their static website when asked about this kind of thing, but really we need something a bit more effective.

All notices should appear in a consistent way.  Important notices are placed on notice boards in addition to being posted online.  New residents should be able to find old news.  A blog like this meets all those needs.

So, when the BEO send out their next survey, please let them know that the BEO should have a blog like the Ben Jonson House Blog.

Asbestos Works 30th & 31st May

The BEO posted a letter to tell us that we're having more asbestos taken out of the building:

Click to read the whole letter

BMH May 14th Plans

Taylor Wimpey have made available a PDF document containing their latest plans for the Bernard Morgan House site.  They have still not responded to our requests for information made back in February, which were for the old and new building volumes and for a 3D model (like this) of the proposed building.

But we do have this most recent PDF, though with the typically swooping and obscuring images.  for example here they try to hide the new building behind a tree:

Spot the new building.  Click to read the full document.

Run event road closures 29th & 30th May

On Sunday 29th May and Monday 30th May there will be running events in central london which will involve road closures.  See the flyer for details.

Click to read the flyer

Internal Wall Cracks: an update

From the Senior Project Manager/Surveyor at the Barbican Estates Office
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Just to give you an update on the cracks

I'm still waiting to hear from the Planners who I also believe are carrying out their internal and external consultation on the matter. As soon as I hear anything from them I will be in a position to come up with an indicative programme that takes into account their comments. I'm and will be chasing the Planners and hope to hear from them soon.

Regards

Barbican Station Temporary Closure Survey

From the BEO for the BA and TfL: 

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Consultation on TfL's planned temporary closure of Barbican Station

TfL is planning a major upgrade of Barbican station. This will take place towards the end of 2016 or more probably in 2017. This is likely to involve the complete closure of Barbican Station for a period of several months. TfL has said that the complete closure will enable it to carry out noisy works during normal working hours. Other works will continue before and after the closure which might involve closing the station at weekends. No noisy works will be carried out during the weekend closures.

TfL has asked, through the BA, for the views of Barbican residents as to the best time for this closure to occur. The BA has set up a survey to canvass resident's opinions.

It should only take a minute or two to complete as it consists of three quick questions and an opportunity to leave a comment.

TfL has said that it will try to consider residents' opinions in planning the works, but due to the challenges of carrying out the project on a working railway and coordinating with Crossrail TfL may not be guided by them.

The BA has been asked to reply to TfL by next week, so please respond to this survey by this Friday, 20th May, to be sure that your opinions are included.

Click here to complete the survey

Window Cleaners

William Parker is the new window cleaning firm engaged to keep our flat windows sparkling.

Stolen Bikes - Secure your bike

Bicycles have been stolen from the Breton House (/Ben Jonson House) car park.

The most recent theft was on 22nd April.  There were a three bikes stolen last year.

If you keep a bike in the car park please make sure lock it securely, or even better use one of the bike lockers.  If you would like to rent a bike locker please contact the BEO.

There is some CCTV coverage in the car parks but it is primarily designed to protect the Deutsche Bank cars so only incidentally covers bike parking.

Excessive Noise

A flyer was dropped through my door this evening on the subject of noise nuisance caused by building works within blocks.  I'm not sure if it was put through all doors, so just in case, here it is:

Click to read the whole flyer