CPRE: "Should London keep on growing?"

Link to web site

"Boris Johnson's London Plan calls for just over 1 million new homes in London up to 2036, or 49,000 per year. Since 2001, we've actually built at little more than half the rate this target requires: completed homes are at a rate of about 27,000 a year.

"The level of demand has driven Paul Miner bloga number of recent calls for the Green Belt to be reviewed so that land can be released in it for housing.

"Increasing the rate of building to that required by the London Plan, let alone the 62,000 a year suggested by some developers, is not currently feasible. We would need significant levels of public investment in both affordable / social housing, and in improved public transport – possibly Crossrail 3 and 4, let alone Crossrail 2. And in a red hot property market, in a city which has created nearly four times more jobs over the past 10 years than the nation’s next 60 largest cities combined, the money won’t go very far."

The Guardian: "Wolf Hall - the economic lessons"

"Five centuries may have passed but Cromwell’s Tudor times offer some remarkable parallels with the economic plight of Britain today"

Doth not tarry to the interweb scroll

"The period of transition from feudalism to modern capitalism was long. Economic growth in the 16th century barely kept pace with the growing population. The economy had its ups and down but broadly flatlined between 1500 and 1600. More than two centuries would pass before the advent of the wave of technological progress associated with the start of the industrial revolution.

"Even so, the economy was gradually being transformed. Cromwell was not a member of the old aristocratic families: a Suffolk or a Norfolk. He was a blacksmith’s son from Putney made good. Like his patron, Cardinal Wolsey, he did not have a privileged upbringing but had talent and ambition. Karl Marx would have seen Cromwell as a classic example of the new bourgeoisie. Mantel draws a contrast between the fanatically devout Thomas More and the worldly wise Cromwell: the one settling in for a day’s scourging, the other off to get the day’s exchange rate in the City’s Lombard Street, where all the big banking houses had their home.

"The inference is clear. Men like More are the past. A new breed of men, pragmatic and servants of the state not the church, are on the rise. “He can converse with you about the Caesars or get you Venetian glassware at a very reasonable rate. Nobody can better keep their head, when markets are falling and weeping men are standing on the street tearing up letters of credit."

Brent & Kilburn Times: QPR and Cargiant (it ain't over till the fat lady sings)

Link to web site

"QPR chairman Tony Fernandes is [still] eager to hold talks with Cargiant regarding plans to build a new stadium at Old Oak Common.

"... Cargiant managing director Tony Mendes told the Brent & Kilburn Times last year that the offer put forward for their land by the club made it a non-starter.

"Cargiant have since started making their own redevelopment plans on their 47 acre plot of land, and stated that they are not interesting in holding further discussions with QPR."

Jenny Jones, London Assembly member: "The end of industry in London?"

"The Mayor of London takes an approach called 'predict and provide' when making plans for [the future]. This dead-end approach assumes that the past is a good predictor of the future, and that politicians have little power to change anything. So he 'provides' things like land supply on that basis. When it comes to industry he predicts terminal decline, and so provides less and less land.

"In his Infrastructure Plan, he sets projections of employment that show manufacturing jobs falling to just 15,500 by 20501. On that trend, manufacturing will disappear completely from London by 20622. Other sectors that provide skilled manual jobs are also projected to decline – jobs providing energy and water, or transporting, processing, storing and distributing food are all assumed to be on the gradual slide to oblivion.

"But this is an absurd prediction. ... This predicted decline, if it came true, would be hugely damaging for the 'foundational economy' that sustains the infrastructure of everyday life."

The End of Industry in London Feb 2015

The Economist: "Building on the boundaries: There is a pattern to London’s big developments"

"LONDON often seems pinched: last year a dilapidated seven-by-eleven foot garage in Chelsea sold for £550,000 ($850,000). But it actually contains plenty of land for building. The largest swathe can be found across Old Oak Common and Park Royal: a 950-hectare lozenge to the north-west of the city encompassing several waste plants, some post-war warehouses and a clutch of crumbling railway cottages. Although the lozenge has wealthy neighbours, it has rotted for decades. Like many of London’s underdeveloped sites, the area lies on a boundary between boroughs. And that could explain a lot.

"London’s 33 boroughs are collectively much more powerful than the city’s mayor. To a large extent, they determine what is built within their borders. They are also short-sighted, frequently neglecting their edges in favour of their middles, where most people live. Look at the borough map in any London town hall, says Michael Hebbert, a professor at University College London, and it 'could be an island, surrounded by beaches'. The peripheries are for waste-tips and warehouses, the centre for libraries and office blocks.

"Consequently Nine Elms, a 195-hectare brownfield site that overlaps two boroughs, and the City Fringe, 489 hectares that overlap seven, were until recently left alone as land values climbed around them. (Another undeveloped area is next to Finsbury Park, in north London, which falls into three boroughs.) In the late 1970s Lambeth council resisted new offices at its northern edge, on the prime development land between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge, before encouraging office development in Brixton, three miles south at the borough’s centre. Tension between the boroughs of Camden and Islington caused problems at several stages of a large development project north of King’s Cross, a railway station in north London.

"Now London’s government, which is starting to flex its planning muscles, is stepping in to break the deadlock. In 2012 it supervised the fast construction of the Olympic Village, which stands in four east London boroughs, creating a powerful development corporation that could overrule borough worries. London’s soaring residential property prices, along with a fast-growing population, are an encouragement to try this elsewhere.

"The city government is lucky: these neglected liminal areas are available for development at a time when London is prepared to build densely. Had the city made use of them earlier, while still in the habit of building the low-rise homes most of its population live in, it would be stuck for space. But it can now pack the borough fringes with tall apartment buildings. The new Nine Elms has been dubbed 'Dubai on Thames', or 'Mini-Manhattan'; Old Oak Common will be the “Canary Wharf of the North” (the GLA’s plans are pictured). Both will in fact be a thicket of unappealing glass blocks. But aesthetics are not London’s priority. The city’s population is predicted to reach 11m by 2050, and the Green Belt stops it from sprawling. It must fit everyone in somehow."

GLA: "Senior Community Engagement Officer, Old Oak Common & Park Royal"

Salary: £41,209 per annum
Contract type: Full-time, fixed term
Reference: STAF540
Interview Date: Friday 13 March 2015
Date posted: 16 February 2015
Closing date: 1 March 2015

The Greater London Authority (GLA) is seeking to appoint a Senior Community Engagement Officer to work as part of the Old Oak and Park Royal Mayoral Development Corporation (OPDC) Team. The OPDC will operate as a new planning authority in West London from 1st April 2015 and a new functional body of the Greater London Authority.

This is an exciting opportunity to work on London’s newest and largest regeneration area. Centred on a new HS2/Crossrail station the size of Waterloo, Old Oak Common is set to be transformed into a new urban quarter providing over 24,000 homes and 55,000 jobs.

As part of the expanding OPDC team, the Senior Community Engagement Officer will be responsible for developing and implementing a community engagement strategy to encourage participation in this exciting regeneration project. The officer will engage with a wide variety of stakeholders including local residents, businesses, interested groups, as well as a range of public sector bodies and facilitate direct communication with OPDC team. The officer will also develop a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) and Community Charter and will support other promotional work.

We are looking for an individual with exceptional written, verbal communication skills and an ability to establish strong links with external stakeholders and community groups. Experience of town planning and/or urban design will be desirable.

The GLA offer a range of flexible working arrangements allowing staff to balance work and home commitments. We will welcome applications from part time job seekers, who must be able to work a minimum of 34 hours a week over at least 4 working days. Compressed hours will also be considered.

London's diversity is its biggest asset and we strive to ensure our workforce reflects London's diversity at all levels. Applications from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic candidates will be particularly welcomed as they are currently under-represented in this area of our organisation.

In addition to a good salary package, we offer an attractive range of benefits including 30 days’ annual leave, interest free season ticket loan, interest free bicycle loan, childcare voucher scheme and a career average pension scheme.

The role is being offered as a fixed term or secondment for a period of 12 months.

If you will like to discuss the role further, please contact a member of the recruitment team via email: glajobs@london.gov.uk quoting reference STAF540.

Closing date: 23:59 GMT on Sunday 01 March 2015.
Interview: Friday 13 March 2015 at City Hall, London.

Here's some we prepared earlier: The 2011 'Park Royal OAPF'. The 2013 'Park Royal Vision'. The 2014 'Park Royal Census'. Now comes: 'Old Oak Common & Park Royal Employment Land Review' (yep.)

"The Park Royal Opportunity Area Planning Framework was adopted by the Mayor in 2011. It is available here:

Park Royal Planning Framework Chapters 1-9 PDF (9MB)

Park Royal Planning Framework Chapters 10-12 PDF (10MB)

Park Royal Planning Framework text only RTF (500KB)

Vision for Old Oak Consultation

Since that time, the Government has announced proposals for a new High Speed 2 (HS2) and Crossrail station at Old Oak by 2026, potentially making it one of the best connected railway stations in the UK. This could give rise to significant potential for economic development, jobs growth and new homes. The Mayor of London also sees this as an opportunity  to regenerate the wider area.

Based around the new HS2 and Crossrail station at Old Oak, the Mayor, Transport for London (TfL), plus the London Boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham, Brent and Ealing, have been considering the potential for regenerating the area and are seeking views on a 30-year Vision for Old Oak. This could transform the area with up to 90,000 jobs and up to 19,000 new homes, schools, open spaces, shops and leisure facilities.

The Consultation leaflet is available here:
Old Oak Consultation Leaflet

The full document is available here:
Old Oak - part 1
Old Oak - part 2

The Greater London Authority (GLA), Transport for London (TfL) and the London Boroughs of Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF), produced a Vision for the Old Oak Area, which investigates the potential for regeneration and growth in the area around the proposed Old Oak Common High Speed 2 (HS2)/Crossrail Interchange. [Kensington & Chelsea threw its toys out of the pram, and now has visions of its own.]

The public consultation ran for 12 weeks between 28 June 2013 and 20 September 2013, and the two reports provide information on the outcome of this consultation. The first report outlines the strategy followed, provides detail on who was consulted and how, as well as summarising the key issues raised. The second report provides a detailed breakdown of all 614 responses received during the consultation.

The project team is now reviewing the comments and the next steps will be to produce an updated and revised Old Oak - Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF) that addresses these comments. A further round of consultation on will [sic] then take place in Autumn 2014 [it didn't], following which Mayor of London will adopt the plan as an Opportunity Area Planning Framework [it hasn't yet].

Old Oak Vision consultation responses 2014.pdf

Summary of all Old Oak responses in A3 Mar 14 v1.pdf

---

Atlas uncovers hidden world of Park Royal

23 May 2014

A new 'atlas' that shines a light on the 2,000 businesses based at Park Royal and aims to ensure they can maximise the enormous benefits of one of the largest regeneration schemes in Europe has been launched today (Friday, May 23). 

Relatively little was known about the diversity of Park Royal’s businesses and their role in London’s economy until this mapping exercise was conducted. The survey identified that key sectors include food manufacturing and the film industry and that in the last year alone individual Park Royal businesses provided London with 240,000 bouquets of flowers, 300,000 rolls of sushi, 3,000 recording sessions and supplied 24,000 books to university libraries.

The eastern corner of Park Royal, known as Old Oak Common, is set to be transformed when a ‘super hub’ High Speed 2 (HS2) and Crossrail Station is built by 2026. Old Oak Common will become a new district with up to 24,000 new homes and more than 55,000 jobs. The Mayor of London Boris Johnson is also working hard to strengthen and enhance the important industrial offer of the rest of Park Royal.

The Park Royal Atlas is the first ever detailed study of the capital’s largest industrial estate, often dubbed 'London’s Kitchen'. It uses data collected from months of surveying and interviews to give an insight into what people produce, the facilities they operate from and improvements to the area they would like to see.

The study will inform policies and strategies for intensification and economic growth, support inward investment and celebrate and market the diverse services of Park Royal and its contribution to London’s economy.

The Atlas was launched today by Kit Malthouse, Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise, at Fit Out UK, a business based at Park Royal.

Kit Malthouse said:

"Since its beginnings over a century ago, Park Royal has become one of the most significant industrial areas in Europe, boasting some hugely successful UK brands such as McVities, Carphone Warehouse and Diageo and employing more than 30,000 people.

The arrival of HS2 and Crossrail will be a real game-changer for Park Royal. This fascinating, in-depth study of all of its business activities will ensure Park Royal can reap the benefits of the planned regeneration and continue to thrive and grow for another hundred years."

The survey has also revealed inspiring examples of entrepreneurs running businesses ranging from advanced metal fabrication to theatrical prop makers, from highly specialised food productions to logistics and smart recycling.

To view the Atlas visit
http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/regeneration/publications-guidance

Notes:

• The Mayor of London intends to create a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) to unlock the enormous regeneration potential of Old Oak Common and Park Royal.

• Researchers carried out a census of nearly 2,150 workplaces in the area including interviews with 244 businesses, giving an insight into their needs and evidence of their key role in London’s economy using graphs, maps, case studies and images. The study found that 75% of workplaces are micro businesses with less than 10 employees.

• Of the 244 interviewed, over two thirds are independent businesses, 47% are anticipating growth and 55% mentioned road and public transport accessibility as a key strength of the area. Common issues were the quality and condition of public realm, car parking and the need for local amenities.

• The Park Royal Atlas is an employment study prepared by the Mayor’s Regeneration Team and cliented [sic] by the Old Oak Common Joint Authority Project Team including the Mayor’s Planning Team, Transport for London, Brent, Ealing and Hammersmith & Fulham, and in association with the Park Royal Business Group.

---

Old Oak Common & Park Royal Employment Land Review

Reference Code: ADD240

Date published: 5 January 2015

Decision by: Stewart Murray, Assistant Director of Planning

The Employment Land Review will assess the demand for industrial and related land uses over a 20 year planning period and compare that demand with the expected supply, having regard to current proposals for Old Oak Common around the new Crossrail and Great Western Mainline / High Speed 2 (HS2) stations.

The Review will be coordinated by the GLA Regeneration Team with tasks undertaken by GLA Planning staff. External consultants will undertake specialist tasks.

The Review will take up to 4 months from commencement to completion.

The total cost of the Review (£40,000) will be funded from the 2014-15 Old Oak & Park Royal budget.

File attachments:

Related documents	Size
ADD240 OOCPR Employment Land Review (signed) PDF.pdf	237.76 KB
ADD240 OOCPR Employment Land Review PDF.pdf	122.39 KB
ADD240 OOCPR Employment Land Review RTF.rtf	337.44 KB
Employment Land Review Project Brief.docx	31.67 KB

That's enough excitement for one day.

Link to HOME (see all posts).

[Reposted] "Honey, they shrunk the London Overground network wanted by the Mayor"

No aspiration to reach Hounslow
No aspiration of the Dudding Hill Line to Hendon/Mill Hill
Link to TfL web page

Update on 15 January 2015

Results

In total 1898 people responded to our consultation. Over 83% either support or strongly support our aspiration to build an Overground station at Old Oak.

We commissioned Steer Davies Gleave to carry out independent analysis and report on the public and stakeholder responses. The consultation report is available [below].

Next steps

"Information from this consultation will be used to inform further design work. We will announce in February which option we are taking forward as our preferred choice."

Boris's earlier aspirations

Overground at Old Oak Consultation Analysis Report Final.pdf 3 1

Link to HOME (see all posts).

GetWestLondon: "Call for Boris Johnson to provide homes 'fit for Londoners' in Old Oak"

"Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter said there is no guarantee any of the 24,000 new homes will be suitable for local people but the Mayor disagrees"

Link to web site

"Hammersmith's Labour MP is calling on Boris Johnson to provide homes 'fit for Londoners', not foreign investors in the newly-approved regeneration of Old Oak Common.

"Andy Slaughter has called a debate in Parliament on Thursday afternoon [last week] as he believes the 24,000 homes planned for the 950-hectare site have no guarantee of being affordable for people living in the area which straddles the three London boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Brent and includes Wormwood Scrubs park.

"His concerns come after the communities minister Eric Pickles gave the green light on January 28 for the project which will be one of the largest regeneration schemes in London for decades.

"The Mayor of London has said the scheme, which includes an HS2 and Crossrail station, will deliver a £15 billion boost to London’s economy over 30 years after creating 55,000 jobs."

The Guardian: "Should London embrace the vision of Create Streets?"

"A research institute which believes replacing council tower blocks with conventional terraces makes both social and economic sense is gaining influence, and not just among Conservatives"

Click on a window for the web site

"Create Streets describes itself as a 'non-partisan social enterprise and independent research institute'. It argues, it advises, it engages in debate and it wants to get involved with actual housing development too. Last year, it made a large impact on the instructive controversy over the Mount Pleasant Royal Mail sorting office site in Clerkenwell. Working with the local residents of the Mount Pleasant Association, it produced an alternative proposal for developing the land to the one that eventually received planning permission from Boris Johnson after he over-rode the various objections of Camden and Islington councils.

Presented as 'a case study of how streets are more popular, more prosperous and a better investment', its aesthetics inspired a rave review in the Evening Standard from the Guardian’s Simon Jenkins, a former deputy chairman of English Heritage, while its financial calculations offered more affordable housing, including for social rent, than was being proposed by the Royal Mail Group (RMG) at the time.

The study also elaborated the Create Streets view that housing and streetscapes of the types it recommends align better social outcomes with superior 'long-term value-generation for landowners'. In other words, as well as being nicer for human beings, 'traditional' or 'conventional' developments make more money than sky-pricking megaliths in the end, partly because they are less expensive to build and to maintain and partly because people want them more. Furthermore, it demonstrates that high density housing does not have to be either high rise or inelegant and a recipe for urban decay. It is often forgotten that the highest density housing in London is in Chelsea and Notting Hill."

BBC: "The man who hated the transformation of Britain: Nairn was worried that Southampton (top image) ...would soon look like Carlisle (bottom)"

Link to web site

"Six decades ago a critic launched a withering attack on the tendency toward a bland 'subtopia' in British towns.

"April 1955 witnessed a changing of the guard. That month Anthony Eden replaced the 80-year-old Sir Winston Churchill as prime minister.

"Two months later, the Architectural Review magazine printed 'Outrage', an essay by critic Ian Nairn. It sparked a debate over architecture, conservation and planning which still resonates today.

"In Outrage, the singular and passionate Nairn recounted a journey he had made in a Morris Minor from Southampton to Carlisle."

[Reposted] "The Localism Act 2011 and The Freaking MDC." (... What's that? It's NOT the MDC? Freaking close enough.)

PART 8 London

1. CHAPTER 1 Housing and regeneration functions
   1. 186.Removal of limitations on Greater London Authority’s general power
   2. 187.New housing and regeneration functions of the Authority
   3. 188.The London housing strategy
   4. 189.Modification to the Homes and Communities Agency’s functions
   5. 190.Transfer of property of Homes and Communities Agency etc
   6. 191.Abolition of London Development Agency and transfer of its property etc
   7. 192.Mayor’s economic development strategy for London
   8. 193.Transfer schemes: general provisions
   9. 194.Power to make consequential etc provision
   10. 195.Consequential amendments
2. CHAPTER 2 Mayoral development corporations
   1. Introductory
      1. 196.Interpretation of Chapter
   2. Establishment and areas
      1. 197.Designation of Mayoral development areas
      2. 198.Mayoral development corporations: establishment
      3. 199.Exclusion of land from Mayoral development areas
      4. 200.Transfers of property etc to a Mayoral development corporation
   3. Object and main power
      1. 201.Object and powers
   4. Planning and infrastructure functions
      1. 202.Functions in relation to Town and Country Planning
      2. 203.Arrangements for discharge of, or assistance with, planning functions
      3. 204.Removal or restriction of planning functions
      4. 205.Powers in relation to infrastructure
   5. Land functions
      1. 206.Powers in relation to land
      2. 207.Acquisition of land
      3. 208.Powers in relation to acquired land
      4. 209.Restrictions on disposal of land
      5. 210.Power to enter and survey land
   6. Other functions
      1. 211.Adoption of private streets
      2. 212.Businesses, subsidiaries and other companies
      3. 213.Financial assistance
      4. 214.Powers in relation to discretionary relief from non-domestic rates
   7. Dissolution
      1. 215.Reviews
      2. 216.Transfers of property, rights and liabilities
      3. 217.Dissolution: final steps
   8. General
      1. 218.Transfer schemes: general provisions
      2. 219.Guidance by the Mayor
      3. 220.Directions by the Mayor
      4. 221.Consents
      5. 222.Consequential and other amendments
3. CHAPTER 3 Greater London Authority governance
   1. 223.Delegation of functions by Ministers to the Mayor
   2. 224.Authority may be required to carry on commercial activities through a taxable body
   3. 225.The London Environment Strategy
   4. 226.Abolition of Mayor’s duty to prepare state of the environment reports
   5. 227.Mayoral strategies: general duties
   6. 228.Simplification of the consultation process for the Mayor’s strategies
   7. 229.London Assembly’s power to reject draft strategies
   8. 230.Sharing of administrative etc services by London authorities
   9. 231.Transport for London: access to meetings and documents etc

View all consultations 2011-2014,
or link to HOME (see all posts).

CoStar: "Cargiant slams door on QPR stadium move"

"Cargiant and London & Regional have announced the project team for their major regeneration plans in Old Oak Common, in a move likely to effectively end Queens Park Rangers' aspirations to build a new Premier League Stadium on the site"

"Cargiant, the largest private landowner within the Old Oak Common regeneration area in west London, has now appointed its masterplan team for Old Oak Park. 

"London & Regional Properties replaced Chelsfield as sole development partner to Cargiant in December of last year.

The team, fully disclosed below, includes Arup, DP9 and PLP Architecture.

Old Oak Park is home to the world’s largest car dealership, Cargiant. The 47-acre site is a centrepiece for the development of Old Oak Common.

Cargiant has been proposing a £5bn new town on the site, which at present houses up to 7,000 used cars.

The initial plans would include around 9,500 homes and a new high street, two schools – a primary and secondary school - a new dock and a 'cultural hub'.

Premier League football club QPR has however earmarked the site for a separate scheme comprising a 40,000-seat stadium and 24,000 new homes.

For QPR's aspirations to come forward however Cargiant would need to agree to house the hoops on its land, or else the site would need to be CPO'd.

It is understood that Cargiant's opposition to a stadium on the site remains implacable, and the Cargiant consortium is confident that there are no legal grounds for a CPO to make way for QPR's plans given that there is no case for it as a 'necessity' as they are proposing a major regeneration scheme.

The Greater London Authority's endorsement of the Cargiant consortium also suggests there is little appetite from the mayor for a CPO battle over the site.

Tony Mendes, managing director of Cargiant, said

"I'm delighted we have appointed our full masterplanning team and to have such expert partners working with us. As a major landowner and one of the most successful local businesses in the area, we are an important part of the community and best placed to understand what is right for the site.

We are committed to delivering a scheme of exceptional quality, which brings real benefit for local people. We want this to be a part of London we would all be proud to live in and visit.

There is already great momentum behind the project and we look forward to talking to local communities in the coming months so that those who already live and work around Old Oak Common directly help to shape its future."

Cargiant said it supports the Mayor of London’s vision for Old Oak Common, and is working collaboratively with the GLA and the emerging Park Royal and Old Oak Mayoral Development Corporation (OPDC), as well as the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, to develop a world-class new neighbourhood. The next phase of consultation with the local community will begin in the Spring.

Sir Edward Lister, Deputy Mayor for Planning, said:

"Old Oak Common represents an unprecedented chance to create a truly new piece of London. Cargiant is set to play an enormously important role in the regeneration of the area and we are already working with their development partner London & Regional as they help to deliver the Mayor’s vision for much needed new homes and jobs.

Following the Government’s approval of our plans to set up a new Development Corporation, there is now real momentum as we look to maximise this once-in-a-generation opportunity."

Geoff Springer, Development Director at London & Regional said:

"The Cargiant site will be the first to be delivered within the OPDC area, setting the standard for the wider regeneration of the area. It is vital therefore that we create the right linkages across the area, and make best use of the huge investment going into transport infrastructure at Old Oak Common.

Most importantly however, we need to create a place that people and families right across London would chose to live in, with good schools, parks and high quality new homes. We are committed to delivering that vision."

Lee Polisano, Founding Partner of PLP Architecture who will lead the Masterplan team, said: 

"We are very pleased to be involved in shaping this significant new piece of London. The site represents an opportunity to create much needed new homes, jobs and fantastic public spaces benefiting from new rail connections and access to the Grand Union Canal.

Bringing experience, expertise and a creative approach gained from leading and delivering several high profile urban planning and architecture projects we are looking forward to create Old Oak Park [sic], in close collaboration with the local boroughs and the OPDC."

The full Cargiant Old Oak Park team is as follows:

London & Regional Properties - Development Managers

DP9 - Planning Consultants

PLP Architecture - Masterplanners

Arup - Infrastructure and engineering

iCube - Transport

West 8 - Landscape Architects

Aecom - Energy and sustainability

Quod - Socio-Economics

Tavernor Consulting - Heritage

Waterman Group - Environmental Impact

London Communications Agency [like a bad penny] - Consultation and Communications.

Milton Keynes Citizen: "Ministers take automated car ride"

All aboard the web site

"Two Government ministers have been taken for a ride - on an automated vehicle being used in driverless car trials that started today.

Well wrapped up against the biting cold at Greenwich in south London, Business Secretary Vince Cable and transport minister Claire Perry were transported around the outside of the O2 Arena on a Meridian shuttle.

Resembling a giant golf buggy, the shuttle will take part in driverless vehicle trials over three years.

The other test areas will be in Bristol, Coventry - in the West Midlands - and Milton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire.

Stepping off the shuttle after a short ride, Mr Cable declared:

"Driverless vehicles are potentially the transport of the future, in terms of road safety and congestion easing."

LondonReconnections: "Why They Call It The Blues: A Look at Crossrail’s Launch Plan"

"May 2018: Paddington to Heathrow"
Link to web site

"... Thanks to Crossrail operational papers submitted to the TfL Rail & Underground panel, we can now confirm that a [temporary 'TfL Rail'] roundel makes its likely first public appearance [at the eastern end of what will be Crossrail].

"... The existing stock will gradually be replaced from December 2017, as the new Crossrail class 345s enter service. Just how those new trains are planned to enter service – and indeed the initial service pattern – is also something the presentation provides some confirmation of.

"... Finally, we also have confirmation of the initial service level in December 2019, including the split between branches, at least as currently planned."