BA question the new plans for the Girls School

The City of London School for Girls have reopened discussion on their plans to expand the school.

The Barbican Association (BA) have reviewed the information available so far and have sent out a letter to residents.  The BA have a number of concerns with the proposals as they stand:

• The loss of the Grade II* listed open vista beneath Mountjoy House compromises the architectural integrity of the Barbican Estate.
• The proposed development, here in a conservation area and listed estate, may set an unwelcome precedent.
• Compromise of residential amenity;  by noise and smells from cooking, delivery and waste handling activities in the proposed new kitchens.

Here is the letter from the BA:

Click to read the whole letter

Girls School Expansion Plans

The City of London School for Girls (another of the many personae of the City of London) has been thinking about how it can grow for some time. 

The first set of plans involved building classrooms for the youngest children in the car parks beneath residential Barbican blocks.  These classrooms would have had no natural light at all.  Residents opposed these proposals because they didn't think it was a good idea for young children to spend long hours in artificial light, and also noted the proposed classrooms and supporting infrastructure (kitchens etc.) would have meant the loss of car parks for residents and the introduction of noise (from the kids, kitchens and deliveries) and smells (from the kitchens).

Having reflected on the wisdom of teaching small children in caves, the school has come up with a new set of proposals:

Click to read the whole flyer

Draft City of London Transport Strategy

From the BEO:

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Draft City of London Transport Strategy

The City of London Corporation is currently consulting on its draft Transport Strategy until 13 January.

To see the proposals and comment on the future of transport, visit www.cityoflondon.london

To find out about drop-in sessions, visit www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/transportstrategy

Elves (CPAs) in distress - collect your parcels!

From the BEO:
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Prompt Collection of all Parcels and Packages from Now Until Christmas

Due to an increase in parcels received around the Christmas period, concierge offices begin to get very full. If you could please try to collect your parcels as soon as you receive your pink cards, this would be most appreciated.

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

An actual Woodpecker

From the BEO:
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Barbican Wildlife Garden



A Woodpecker was spied in the Barbican Wildlife Garden, earlier this week. Quite a surprise as we didn't think they would come into the City.

Apologies for the blurry picture, but at least the team managed to catch it. For more details on 'Woody' please click here and here for general updates on the Barbican Wildlife Garden.

Service Charges on the BEO Website

From the BEO:
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Service Charges on the Website

Residents Service Charge information can be found on the website, we have now uploaded the schedules of the actuals and estimates for each block.

Please view the service charge page here where the schedules can be found.

Residents disenfranchised by City Standards Committee

Further to the debate with the City about whether our elected representatives are allowed to actually represent us on matters relating to where we live, the BA has teamed up with the Golden Lane and Petticoat Square residents associations to try to get sense to prevail.

The following is from Jane Smith, the chair of the BA
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I am enclosing a public statement that the BA together with Golden Lane and Petticoat Square residents' associations have made about two motions going before the Court of Common Council on 6 December. These propose an independent working party to look at an interpretation of the Localism Act that doesn't disenfranchise residents and a look at the appeals mechanism in the case of complaints.
...
I've also asked our councillors to support the need for an independent look at this. The meeting of the Standards Committee on 15 November didn't fill me with confidence that the policy they propose would address the underlying problem of being disenfranchised.

Jane Smith
Chair, Barbican Association


----Original message----
Subject : Residents disenfranchised by City Standards Committee

Dear Members of the Court of Common Council

Please find below a statement issued by three residents' associations in the City of London supporting motions to be put to the Court of Common Council of the City of London on 6 December.

Some background is available in http://www.cityam.com/269724/city-london-corporation-caught-gagging-row-after-referring

Jane Smith
Chair, Barbican Association

Residents disenfranchised by City Standards Committee 

The Barbican Association, Golden Lane Estate Residents' Association, and Petticoat Square Leaseholders' Association, together representing a majority of City residents, jointly support the proposal to be put before the Court of Common Council on 6 December that the City should establish an independent working party to consider the issue of dispensations under the Localism Act for members who have disclosable pecuniary interests. 

This working party should balance the need to uphold the anti-corruption principles of the Localism Act with the need for City residents to be assured that their elected members can fully represent them. 

Residents feel disenfranchised by recent decisions of the Standards Committee that have prevented our elected members from even speaking on issues of concern to the people who live in the City. We are not confident that the new policy being drawn up by the Standards Committee will uphold residents' rights to representation because it says nothing about how the Act will be interpreted in practice. We urge the City to adopt a more balanced approach and acknowledge that being able to elect fellow residents to represent them is a basic democratic right for your residents. 

The three associations also jointly support a second proposal that the City should establish an independent working party to consider the issue of how internal proceedings, currently handled by the Standards Committee, are dealt with. This follows a recent case in which a resident councillor was referred to the police and had proceedings brought against her in the Standards Committee after she represented her constituents on Golden Lane Estate on a matter in which it was never alleged that she (or anyone else) could have obtained any financial benefit. The case ended, after several months, with no investigation by the police and no sanction by the Standards Committee, but the possibility of its recurrence has had a chilling effect on resident councillors doing what they were elected to do.

Jane Smith
Chair Barbican Association chairBA@btinternet.com 

Tim Godsmark
Chair Golden Lane Estate Residents Association chair.glera@gmail.com 

Roger Way
Chair Petticoat Square Leaseholders' Association rogerwayg1@gmail.com