Ward Newsletters

All back issues of the Castle Baynard Ward Newsletters are available at the bottom of this page.

Castle Baynard Newsletter December 2023

 

 

 

 

 

HILL HOUSE PLANNING APPLICATION – SHOE LANE LIBRARY

Landsec, the owner of Hill House (in which our much loved Shoe Lane Library is located) has submitted a planning application to redevelop the site.

During the development it is proposed that the library will be temporarily relocated to One New Change near St Paul’s cathedral.
The ground floor of the proposed building will house a relocated and enhanced Shoe Lane Library, next to a new enlarged Gunpowder Square (see attached image)

The relocation to ground level and expansion of Shoe Lane Library will provide library users and staff with natural light which the existing basement location is lacking, it will provide access to outdoor spaces and significantly more visibility and prominence in the street.

The 5,500 square foot expansion not only provides significant additional space but also seeks to enrich the library’s community offerings to attract new users. This space will also allow the library to generate long term revenue through the provision of affordable workspace opportunities.

ROUGH SLEEPING ASSESSMENT CENTRE

The City of London Corporation has awarded a 3-year contract to operate its new Rough Sleeping Assessment Centre to Thames Reach. The Square Mile-based residential service will offer 14 short-stay beds to rough sleepers when it opens in early 2024, providing 24/7 support, 365 days a year.

Thames Reach is a London-based charity that helps people who are homeless or vulnerable to find homes, build supportive relationships, and lead fulfilling lives. It will work closely with health and social care providers to establish the best routes away from rough sleeping for clients.

The new centre is situated in a former school building in the grounds of Church of Holy Sepulchre on Snow Hill Court.

The building is currently being completely refurbished and designed with the needs of rough sleepers in mind. When this facility opens we should hopefully see a significant reduction in the numbers of rough sleepers in the City.

CITY POLICE BIKE SQUAD

We are pleased to pass on the news that the City of London Police Force has reinstated the City Police Cycle Squad on a trial basis. After a successful trial senior Police Officers have been asked by the Police Board to produce a report on the implications of making the team permanent. This very welcome, highly visible and effective team led by Sergeant Stu Ford has been tasked with helping to keep our streets safe.

Part of the team’s role is to deal with cycling offences. During busy commuter periods, the number of cyclists greatly exceeds the number of motor vehicles in the Square Mile. Regrettably there are numerous examples of inconsiderate and illegal behaviour by some cyclists such as ignoring red traffic lights and cycling on pavements. The team has already started to carry out spot operations at key City junctions during the rush hour, and have issued warnings and fixed penalty notices to offenders. Sergeant Ford is pictured with ward members Mary Durcan and Henrika Priest at Ludgate Circus recently when the team was in action.

In order to better understand where and why cycling offences occur, volunteers were sought to support the City of London Police with their Cycle Safety Survey on 16th of November between 08.00-09.00 throughout the City. Two of the ward team participated in the survey (Henrika at Ludgate Circus and Catherine at Blackfriars Station). The information gathered will be used by the Cycle Squad to target hot spots in the Square Mile such as Ludgate Circus in order to encourage all cyclists to behave responsibly.

FSQ BID ERA OF CHANGE

Several ward members were at Goldman Sachs on November 22 for the launch of the Public Realm report which was commissioned by the FSQ BID and produced by Gensler.

The report sets out an exciting set of proposals which were developed in cooperation with City of London officers and other key stakeholders for Placemaking and Public Realm transformation in the Fleet Street Quarter area. The image above (courtesy of Gensler) shows one example of how Fleet Street could be transformed once the current round of developments is completed while still enabling vehicles to travel east-west into and from the City.

The full report can be downloaded from the FSQ website.

WARD SURGERIES

Ward members will be at Shoe Lane Library at 5:30pm on Tuesday December 5, January 9 2024, February 13, March 12 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

 

 

 

 Ward Newsletters – Back Issues

Issue 78 – October 2023

Issue 77 – July 2003

Issue 76 – March 2003

Issue 75 – December 2022

Issue 74 – September 2022

Issue 73 – June 2022

Issue 72 – March 2022

Issue 71 – December 2021

Issue 70 – September 2021

Issue 69 – June 2021

Issue 68- March 2021

Issue 67 – December 2020

Issue 66 – September 2020

Issue 65 – June 2020

Issue 64 – March 2020

Issue 63 – December 2019

Issue 62 – August 2019

Issue 61 – March 2019

Issue 60 – December 2018

Issue 59 – October 2018

Issue 58 – June 2018

Issue 57 – March 2018

Issue 56 – December 2017

Issue 55 – September 2017

Issue 54 – June 2017

Issue 53 – April 2017

Issue 52 – January 2017

Issue 51 – December 2016

Issue 50 – October 2016

Issue 49 – August 2016

Issue 48 – June 2016

Special Issue – March 2016

Issue 47 – February 2016

Issue 46 – November 2015

Issue 45 – July 2015

Issue 44 – May 2015

Issue 43 – March 2015

Issue 42 – December 2014

Issue 41 – September 2014

Issue 40 – July 2014

Issue 39 – April 2014

Issue 38 – February 2014

 

 

Issue 37 – December 2013

Issue 36 – October 2013

Issue 35 – July 2013

Issue 34 – May 2013

Issue 33 – February 2013

Issue 32 – January 2013

Extra Issue – November 2012

Issue 31 – November 2012

Issue 30 – September 2012

Issue 29 July 2012

Issue 28 – April 2012

Issue 27 – February 2012

Issue 25 – December 2011

Extra Issue – November 2011

Issue 24 – October 2011

Issue 23 – September 2011

Issue 22 – June 2011

Issue 21 – April 2011

Issue 20 – January 2011

Issue 19 – December 2010

Issue 18 – November 2010

Issue 17 – September 2010

Issue 16 – July 2010

Issue 15 – May 2010

Issue 14 – March 2010

Issue 13 – February 2010

Issue 12 – December 2009

Issue 11 – October 2009

Issue 10 – October 2009

Issue 9 – June 2009

Issue 8 – April 2009

Issue -7 – February 2009

Issue 6 – January 2009

Issue 5 – November 2008

Issue 4 – October 2008

Issue 3 – September 2008

Issue 2 – July 2008

Issue 1 – June 2008