New charges for parking and storage

From the City/BEO:

___

Store & Car Parking Charges


I write to inform you that the Barbican Residential Committee has approved the following, subject to review again in 2022:

Car Parking

• The Barbican car park charge per parking space has been paused at £1,420 per annum.
• Motorcycle parking licences will increase to £255 per annum.

Stores in residential blocks (that is, stores not constructed in the car parks)

• Rents for Stores within residential blocks (standard stores) will increase to £358 per annum.

New Stores in the Car Park

• Rents for the resident new stores in the car parks will increase to:
• Large Store £916
• Extra Large Store £1,300
• Extra Extra Large Store £1,832
• Resident Stores in the Car Park
• Rents for Transportable stores (medium) will increase to £672 per annum.
• Rents for Large stores (Thomas More Car Park & Brandon Mews) will increase to £861per annum.

Other Storage

• Bicycle Pod licences will increase to £34 per annum, excluding £25 key deposit.
• Bicycle Locker licences will increase to £96 per annum, excluding £40 key deposit.

I am therefore giving three months’ notice with this letter that as from 29 September 2021 store and car parking charges will be as stated above and your service charge account will be adjusted accordingly.

Builders Yard - unnecessarily noisy and wasteful?

The use of the builders yard established beneath Ben Jonson House seems to be bizarrely inefficient, noisy and polluting. Is it possible the the contractor has no incentive to use the most efficient practice, and perhaps even the reverse (e.g. charging for additional vehicles and work)?

I have written to the City to suggest how the negative impact of the project and the builders yard can be reduced.  I'll not hold my breath for any practical response, but one can hope. 

Here is the body of my letter:
___

Regarding the repaving works currently underway around the new Denizen flats on Golden Lane:
http://bjhg-blog.blogspot.com/2021/05/builders-yard-with-us-until-october.html

Since we'll be stuck with this project until October (or later if/when the project slips) I'd like to suggest some better work practices which will:

• Improve efficiency
• Reduce costs
• Reduce environmental impact
• Minimise noise impact on residences

The project is to work around the new Denizen flats, replacing the pavement surface. This involves digging up the existing surface, removing the waste material and installing new paving. The work will start at the junction of Golden Lane and Fann Street, proceeding west along Fann Street and follow the path around the Denizen to eventually end up back at the starting point. When viewed from above the project will move anti-clockwise around the Denizen.

The work will proceed by first clearing a few meters of old paving, preparing that area for new paving and then laying the new paving.

The current method in use as I type:

1. Remove the old paving material and place in a heap on the ground ahead of the current work area
2. From time to time, shovel the waste into a dumper truck
3. The noisy dumper truck shuttles back and forth from the work site to the builders yard area beneath Ben Jonson House
4. … and dumps the waste on the ground
5. From time to time a noisy truck with a grabber visits the builders yard to scrape up the waste back off the ground and into the back of the truck. The grabber truck waits for some time (engine running) while the dumper noisily makes several top-up trips.
6. New material is delivered to the builders yard
7. A noisy forklift shuttles the new material from the builders yard to the work site for installation

Suggested method:

1. Place a skip ahead of the old paving to be cleared
2. Remove the old paving material and place it directly in the skip. The skip will be removed from time to time to be replaced with a new skip a little further along.
3. The materials for the new paving are delivered to an area of pavement (perhaps protected using plywood) behind the current work area.
4. The cleared area is prepared and new materials installed
5. Replace any internal combustion powered site vehicles with electric alternatives.

The current method requires all materials to be moved several times:

• Waste is dug up, dumped on the ground, shovelled into the dumper, noisily shuttled to the builders yard, dumped on the ground again, noisily scraped up again by the grabber and driven away.
• New material is delivered to the builders yard and shuttled up to the current work site using a noisy fork lift vehicle.

The suggested requires far fewer moves:

• Waste is dug up and placed in a skip which is removed from time to time
• New materials are delivered to a point close to where they will be needed
• ... and any site vehicle still needed (if any) could be electric and thus less polluting

The suggested method saves time and effort for the people on the project and would have a significantly reduced impact on the environment from an air pollution and noise pollution perspective.

Since we’ll have to live with this project until October could we at least minimise the environmental impact and pain caused to residents?

Many thanks

Barbican & Golden Lane - Future Planning

The City has produced a couple of documents regarding their vision for the future of the Barbican and Golden Lane conservation area on which they would like feedback:

• Barbican and Golden Lane Conservation Area, a 36 page document which describes the area, it's history and planning policies for the area.
• THE BARBICAN Listed Building Management Guidelines Volume IIIA, a 154 page document which contains many images of the Barbican as it has evolved from construction to the present day, and critically, a description of what may and may not be changed in the future.

See the notice below for details of how the 'consultation' will be run.

The subject area

Here is the notice from the City via the BEO:

___

Barbican and Golden Lane Consultations

The City of London Corporation is consulting on two draft guidance documents which relate to the Barbican and Golden Lane Estates:

• Barbican and Golden Lane Conservation Area Character Summary and Management Strategy
• Barbican Arts Centre Listed Building Management Guidelines

To view the documents and find out more information on the consultation please visit the City Corporation website at: https:// www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/bglconsultation

See below for the dates and registration links for the 2 public meetings for the Barbican and Golden Lane Conservation Area Appraisal public consultation.
12pm on 7 June - Click here for link.
6pm on 24 June - Click here for link

We would appreciate your views on either or both of the documents before the end of the consultation period on Friday 9 July 2021.

After the consultation closes comments will be reported to Barbican and Planning and Transportation committees with a proposal to adopt the documents as Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs).

The consultation will run from Wednesday 12 May until Friday 9 July 2021. If you wish to make representations, please send your comments to: localplan@cityoflondon.gov.uk.

Or in writing to:

Development Plans Team,
Department of the Built Environment,
City of London Corporation,
P.O. Box 270,
Guildhall, EC2P 2EJ

Bulky Waste - where to dump it

From the BEO:

___

Managing the Bulky Waste Areas

Residents can take their bulky household items to any of the collection points around the Barbican Estate at the following Car Parks: Bunyan, Garchey lay-by in Beech Street, Cromwell, Thomas More, Andrewes and Willoughby.

Residents leaving items within the bulky point areas across the estate, are responsible for keeping the area tidy and must ensure the bin area and bins are accessible at all times.

If residents have any bulky rubbish or household items they wish to dispose of, they should contact the City of London Corporation's Cleansing Division. By giving five days' notice items will be removed from outside their flat on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There is a small charge for this service. Further information can be found here.

Residents can also dispose of items at Tower Hamlets waste centre. Please check the recycling page on the City website and the A - Z recycling page for further information.