The Brewery license application update

Residents have objected to the new licensing application submitted by The Brewery, fearing a repeat of what happened with the, now closed, Parker McMillan club. When it was operating the Parker McMillan club ran events which ran late and attracted lots of noisy people (e.g. screaming fans of pop stars) who kept up the noise until very late.

The alderman for Cripplegate, David Graves, has received a letter (and supporting document) from the applicant's lawyers which seems to try to quell the fears of a Parker McMillan MkII. See a copy of the letter & document below.

David writes:

I assume that those of you who objected will have received today (as I have) a letter from the Applicant's solicitor expressing their client's wish to work with local residents and to that end it has modified the Application to reduce the terminal hour to midnight Monday - Saturday with a Sunday finish at 11pm.

Only recorded music will be provided beyond 11pm and there will be conditions designed to prevent public nuisance - essentially to suggest that the business is sit down dining with ancillary alcohol, rather than the other way round, and no intention to operate as a nightclub.

It seems to me that whatever good intentions may lie behind this, aside from a "wind down" policy before the terminal hour is reached, there is little in the business method or EHO conditions that addresses the risk of noise outbreak associated with departing guests. That said, I am not sure there is much more they can do beyond deciding that this is the wrong location for the business intended and look elsewhere. I suspect we won't persuade them of that.

Although not specifically requested in the covering letter, it seems that there is an implicit invitation to either agree to the modified application or to resubmit objections to the revised application.

The letter and document:

Click to read the whole wad

New plans for Exhibition Hall 2

From the chair of the Speed House Group:

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Just a line to be sure you've seen this paper asking for approval of "up to £50k from the Finance Committee City’s Cash contingency, to allow the City of London School for Girls to explore the options identified [a preparatory department], including Exhibition Hall 2, in greater detail; and approve up to £50k from the Finance Committee City Fund contingency, to enable the Barbican Centre on behalf of the Cultural Hub to explore in greater detail the potential use of Exhibition Hall 2 to align with aims and objectives of the Cultural Hub'

http://democracy.cityoflondon.gov.uk/documents/s82014/Beech%20Street%20Property%20Uses%20update%20report.pdf

Fire Risk Assessment

Here is the Fire Risk Assessment for Ben Jonson House which is dated 10th November 2016.  Please read this carefully and think about what it means for your flat.  If you see any errors or omissions or if you have any questions please direct them to the BEO, FAO Michael Bennett.

Click to read the whole document

Drop-in fire safety event - Mon 17th 18:00 - 20:00

There will be a "drop-in" event hosted by City of London staff where residents can discuss fire safety issues.  The flyer says that the "most senior" City staff will be there.

The meeting will be held in the Lilac Room on Monday 17th July from 18:00 to 20:00.

The City has posted flyers on notice boards, but again failed to send a copy to the RTAs.  I spotted this notice this morning:

Click to zoom in

New "Open Golden Lane" Blog

A new blog has been started entitled "Open Golden Lane".  The initial posts are about Bernard Morgan House:

Click to visit the new blog

BMH: Residents Meeting 17th July

The communications person acting for Taylor Wimpey, Raj Mandair,  has set up a residents meeting for the evening of the 17th July:

Click to read the whole letter

NB This is the same letter which announced the investigation works.

BMH: Investigation works starting 10th July

Taylor Wimpey will start investigation works on Monday 10th July.  This will involve cutting into the basement slab beneath Bernard Morgan House.  The work will take about three weeks:

Click to read the whole letter

BMH: Judicial Review?

Following the decision to decline to call in the Taylor Wimpey planning application for BMH, the Golden Lane Consortium have sent out a message, in particular asking that people contribute to the appeal for funding for a judicial review.  The fund, standing at £6,555.00 as I type, is still short of the £7,000.00 required, with just 4 days of the appeal still to run.

Here is the message:

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Update on Save Golden Lane

Many thanks to everyone who has continued to donate.

We have received an email from the Department for Communities and Local Government stating that the Secretary of State has decided not to appoint an independent Inspector to decide Taylor Wimpey's Planning Application to redevelop Bernard Morgan House.

The email states "planning decisions should be made at a local level wherever possible" and it refers to Government policy which provides that the call in power is only used "very selectively", for example if planning issues "of more than local importance" are involved and which "may conflict with national policies on important matters"

This decision may come as a disappointment but not a surprise to many. This Government, like the City, does not seem to think that demolition of a heritage asset and damage to an exemplar Grade II listed social housing estate is important. Nor that blocking sunlight to community homes and local amenities is important. Nor that losing affordable accommodation for key workers, like police officers, is important. The policy to meet the need for "development and growth" appears all important, and this coincides with assuring huge profits for developers building exclusive private flats despite the damage to our local community.

We are now faced with trying to persuade the City to change the decision it made on 23 May to grant Taylor Wimpey planning permission and, if that fails, to mount a Court challenge to the planning permission within 6 weeks of it being issued.

Your support and financial assistance to continue this challenge is now more important then ever.

Please donate to the CrowdJustice page and stop this sunlight stealing development. Or share with anyone of your friends on Facebook or other social media. We are very close to reaching our target but we only have 5 days left. We believe the decision to Approve is unjust and we can stop this monstrous development.

Many thanks
The Golden Lane Consortium

BMH: Secretary of State declines to intervene

The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Sajid Javid, was asked to call in the Taylor Wimpey planning application for review, but the secretary of state has declined. Here is what Dave Jones of the Department for Communities and Local Government said by email:

The Secretary of State yesterday decided not to call-in the application for his own determination. I do appreciate that this is not the preferred outcome for you and that there will be great disappointment as a result. However, it is now for the Council to determine the application and a copy of our letter to the Council is attached for your information.

... and here is the full letter from Dave ...

Click to read the full letter

Pipe cleaning in the morning

Some of you may have heard a very loud engine running from time to time during the morning.  Here is the source of the noise:

A mighty pipe cleaner van

A mighty pipe cleaner

The two gents operating the van for Baddow tell me that they are working for the offices at 45 Beech Street (Central Point?) which had not had a good drain cleaning for many a long year.  They estimate that their work will run over a number of weekend and will involve their mighty pipe cleaner plus some tanker lorries.

The office administrators asked Baddow to not do this work during the working week because it disturbs the people working in the offices.

I called the City environmental services people (0207 606 3030) and was told to call back if the noise ran past 14:00 or if there was any noise on Sunday.

Fortune Park Summer Party 2017 - Sat 8th

The annual Fortune Park summer party will be held this Saturday (8th July) from 12:00 noon:

Click to make the image a tiny bit bigger

Ride London 2017 - Road Closures 28-30 July

The Prudential RideLondon cycling events return on Friday 28 to Sunday 30 July 2017. They will take place in London and Surrey, on the same routes as last year.

There will be road closures in central London:

Click to read the detailed brochure

p.s. The maps in the brochure are split over pages.  You can see the complete maps by viewing the pages side-by-side, e.g. View > Two Pages when using Preview on a Mac.

City of London home fire safety leaflet

The City have produced a new fire safety leaflet.  The leaflet repeats the information sent out in June.

Click to read the leaflet

The estate office sent out the leaflet along with a letter from the estate manager.