Ward News
FSQ BID AND ATENOR LAUNCH GREEN SKILLS HIB AND CREATIVE STUDIO
Residents and businesses will have noticed that work on the retrofit development of Fleet House on New Bridge Street has been paused recently. Work will resume after a revised planning application for the building has been approved by the City of London which is expected to take several months.
In the interim the FSQ BID and Atenor the building developer have launched a Green Skills Hub and Creative Studio. This will temporarily transform three floors of the building, comprising almost 12,000 sq ft at the Fleet House redevelopment scheme, the hub and studios are a “meanwhile use” activation of an otherwise vacant space that will drive social value in the City of London, and particularly the Fleet Street Quarter area.
Ward members were delighted to be present at the opening of this fantastic initiative on June 12th, which as well as providing welcome activation on New Bridge Street will provide much needed opportunities for young Londoners to improve their vocational skills and career opportunities.
Tokyo Hit Licensing Hearing 165 Fleet Street
The formal decision of the Licensing Hearing was published on the 16th of April. Despite numerous representation from residents and ward members the outcome was extremely disappointing as the panel granted a terminal hour for alcohol Thursday to Saturday of 01:00 and Monday to Wednesday of midnight and on Sunday 23:00. However, a Planning Application for change of use must be approved before the operator can open and we will attempt to persuade the Planning Committee to specify more reasonable hours to prevent nuisance to the residents who live nearby. The formal notification of the decision can be accessed from this link.
Hill House Application Approved – Shoe Lane Library
The redevelopment of Hill House which will provide a new home for the Shoe Lane Library was passed by the Planning Application sub-committee last week. The meeting was chaired by ward member Graham Packham, Deputy Chair of the Planning Committee.
This will see a move of the library space to street level with double height premises and natural lighting facing onto an enlarged and newly landscaped Gunpowder Square. There will be a state-of-the-art design which was specified by City library staff, including the exclusive use of the 18th floor amenity space and rooftop for community events such as the Dragon Café.
While the building is being redeveloped by Landsec, the library will relocate to 1 New Change at the west end of Cheapside, and the move is expected to take place at the end of 2024. We will keep you updated of further developments.
WARD SURGERIES
Do you have an issue you would like to raise about Corporation of London services? Ward members are at Shoe Lane Library at 5:30pm on Tuesday April 9, May 14, and then on the 2nd Tuesday of every month for the rest of 2024. You can also email any one of us on our group email: enquiries@castle-baynard.org.uk
PUBLIC DISORDER INCIDENT
On the evening of July 20 at 8:30pm there was a serious public disorder incident that took place on Godliman Street. A private event at the Leonardo Hotel was being hosted by a foreign diplomat for invited guests which was unexpectedly demonstrated against by a group of anti-government protestors. Unfortunately, the group became violent toward guests leaving the event resulting in a large deployment of police to the area.
City of London police officers supported by public order units from the Metropolitan Police arrived at the scene and in order to maintain the safety of the public had to arrest 5 individuals for affray and violent disorder offences. Disruption outside of Godliman Street was minimal and the incident was concluded by 1am.
ALDERMANIC ELECTION RESULT
Following Ian Luder’s retirement an Aldermanic election for Castle Baynard was held on July 13th.
The results of the ballot were as shown in the table to the right. As a result Martha Grekos was elected as Alderwoman for Castle Baynard.
We would like to thank all of the candidates who participated in what was a very competitive election, we commiserate with those who were unsuccessful and wish them well for the future.
The team congratulates Martha Grekos on her election, and we look forward to working with her in the future for the benefit of our ward and the City.
Ward By-Election Result
Following the by-election yesterday we can announce that Michael Hudson was elected as a Common Councillor for the Ward. Michael previously served as a Common Councillor for the Ward between 2007 and 2022. The ward team would like to congratulate Michael on his election and we look forward to working collaboratively with Michael for the benefit of the Ward and the City.
By-Election in the Ward
Martha Grekos has resigned as a Common Councillor with immediate effect. This means that there will be a by-election in the Ward. The team would like to thank Martha for her hard work during her time as a Common Councillor and wish her well for the future.
A By-Election will be held on Thursday 23 March 2023 and an opportunity to meet the candidates will be available at a ward meeting known as the Wardmote. The Wardmote will be held at 12:30pm on Wednesday 22 March in the Farringdon Room at the St Bride Foundation in Bride Lane.
Anyone who is interested in standing for election is welcome to contact Ward Deputy Graham Packham.
Redevelopment of 120 Fleet Street
The presentation given to residents can be downloaded from this link.
The presentation contains details of the Erith Community Liaison team and the Complaints Procedure and an overview of the demolition programme.
A subsequent presentation describing the monitoring procedure for noise and vibration can be download from this presentation link and the commentary from this link.
Tipperary Pub
Residents and businesses will have noticed that a group of squatters have recently taken up residence in the Tipperary after they were evicted from their previous occupation of 187 Fleet Street. Since members of the team reported this to City officers they have been working with the building owner’s agents to progress eviction proceedings.
We are very pleased to pass on the news that the property agents have confirmed that the squatters have been removed without issue, and that there was no damage to the pub or the internal fittings.
A locksmith has changed all of the locks to secure the building and further work will be carried out to enhance security.
Fleet Cluster Sector Police Panel Meeting
At the latest meeting PC Andy Jacks reviewed the crime figures for the Fleet Cluster. As workers and visitors return to the City crime is increasing, in particular mobile phone snatches remain very concerning. However, workers and residents can play a significant role in minimising phone theft by adopting some simple precautions which are summarised on the banner shown to the right, this can also be downloaded and used by businesses as a screen saver or notice board posters to educate staff about this problem.
The smartphone IMEI number is easy to obtain and record, for most devices simply dial *#06# and the number is displayed. If your phone is stolen reporting this number to your carrier and the police will enable the phone to be blocked so that it is useless.
The City police are still seeking additional City resident members to join the panels which meet quarterly in early evenings. Please contact me at: graham.packham@cityoflondon.gov.uk if you are interested.
City-wide Residents’ Meetings
Two meetings will be held on Wednesday 4th May 2022 in the Great Hall, Guildhall. This event will be held over two sessions, with the daytime slot booked to take place between 12:30 – 14:30 and then again at 18:30 – 20:30.
The meeting will offer residents the chance to hear from the Policy Chair, the Assistant Commissioner of the City of London Police and the Acting Deputy Town Clerk from the City of London Corporation. Residents will also have the opportunity to ask questions or raise issues about living in the City of London.
City Elections – Castle Baynard Results
Congratulations to all the successful candidates especially our 5 new Common Councilors, Mary Durcan, Martha Grekos, John Griffiths, Alpa Raja and Glen Witney. We would like to thank everybody who voted for their support, Michael Hudson for his 15 years of service to the City and the Ward and to wish Michael all of the best for the future. The results in our ward were replicated across the City where approximately 40% of the Common Councillors will be new members.
Petty Crime in the Ward
The ward crime statistics were presented by PC Kev Woodcock on the monthly Sector Police Teams call last week. As more people return to the City theft of mobile phones, laptops and rucksacks/bags are increasing inside cafes, bars and restaurants. Often a diversionary tactic is used to get a victim’s attention to facilitate the theft. Bags and rucksacks containing laptops are typically stolen by criminals standing close to the back of a standing or seated victim in a café or bar, and using one of their legs to drag the bag away for them or their accomplice to pick up and they then leave the premises. Thieves often also target areas where a number of bags belonging to work colleagues are placed together. Victims mistakenly believes that colleagues are looking after their possessions and are distracted by the social occasion. The criminals simply select their preferred bag and walk out.
The key message is to keep valuable possessions close by, and always in sight. The police also emphasized that everyone should take simple precautions when using high value smart phones on our streets, as regrettably there are numerous thefts of these by criminals using bicycles, E Bikes and scooters to snatch phones from pedestrians when they are walking on pavements or crossing streets. Use of earphones and continued vigilance when using phones outside will help prevent this.
Tipperary Update
An application to have the historic Tipperary pub in Fleet Street listed as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) has now been submitted to the Corporation of London. The application was supported by 24 Ward residents and the Corporation has formally acknowledged receipt of the application and now must respond within 8 weeks of receipt which is the end of March.
This application will be considered by the City Policy & Resources Committee, due to the City elections this will be tabled at the meeting on May 5th. The application can be downloaded from this link.
Blackfriars Bridge Refurbishment (January 2022)
We are pleased to report that the much-needed refurbishment of Blackfriars Bridge has recently commenced following persistent and lengthy pressure from ward members. This has been delayed until now by the Thames Tideway work on the Blackfriars foreshore. The contractors have commenced their work in span 2 to minimise disruption, as this is currently closed for navigation by the Tideway work. A trial dismantling of a parapet section has been carried out so that some of the balustrade uprights can be sent to a foundry to form moulds for those that will need replacement across the bridge.
The main activity underway at present is the construction of the scaffold to access the outside and soffit of the span. The contractors should be issuing communications about the work with local stakeholders shortly. This will be a lengthy project which is complicated by the necessity to keep the bridge open for pedestrians, road traffic as well as river boats and completion is scheduled for late 2025.