Consultation until 31 Oct 2014: "London Infrastructure Plan 2050"

"The Mayor launches London’s first long-term infrastructure plan. This is a consultation about London’s growth and how we can make the city better for everyone"

Link to consultation web site
(one of the documents is shown below)

"Infrastructure is fundamental to every Londoner, every day, from turning on the taps in the morning, to travelling to work, to switching off the lights at night.

"This [set of documents] sets out what infrastructure London requires. It is the first ever strategic attempt to set out London’s infrastructure needs, how much it might cost and how we pay for our needs. The aim is to better prepare for growth by overcoming today’s problems and bringing fresh thinking into delivering the infrastructure the city needs in order to also reap its benefits.

"By its very nature, infrastructure underpins everything you do. You make London and we want to hear from you. Let us know what you think by completing the consultation questions by 31 October 2014."

Transport Supporting Paper_1[1]

By the way, LOOK AT THE LAST PAGE!

"Mayor of London issues stark wake-up call on capital’s infrastructure requirements"

Link to LONDON.GOV.UK

"London is set to exceed its record level of population within months and risks losing its position among the world’s elite cities unless a major programme of infrastructure investment is put in place to allow the capital to continue to operate efficiently and successfully. That is the verdict of the Mayor who launched a consultation on a 2050 London Infrastructure Plan today (30 July).

"The London Infrastructure Plan 2050 is the first attempt to set out the full range of infrastructure requirements for the capital over the next half century, during which time the population of London is forecast to increase by thirty seven per cent to more than 11 million people. The Mayor wants to consult with Londoners, national Government, the wider southeast and beyond on the plan, which he describes as a wakeup call to the stark level of investment and thought that needs to be put into ensuring the capital does not falter.

"The plan builds on the Mayor’s campaign for greater fiscal devolution to cities, which has brought together London’s government and the Core Cities Group – representing Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield - to jointly make the case for devolving locally-raised taxes to cities, allowing for investment in much-needed local infrastructure and boosting the whole of the UK’s economy. The Mayor believes that model for investment set out in the plan could also be suitable for all of these cities, and others, providing a blueprint for how they might invest in locally-decided priority infrastructure needs.

"Although London currently leads the world in the finance, commercial, cultural, scientific and media sectors the capital is in danger of being overtaken by competitors who are already strengthening their infrastructure. The Mayor argues that a clear economic rationale underpins the need for a long term infrastructure plan, as rising prosperity for all depends on increased productivity, which itself relies on good infrastructure. However, infrastructure can only be delivered, improved and maintained through planned, sustained and targeted investment."

"The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said:

"... Demand for public transport is forecast to increase by 50 per cent with increased demand for Underground and rail services likely to increase by 60 and 80 per cent respectively.

... Plans to improve transportation by maximising and extending Tube services. Crossrail 2 must be approved and further Crossrail projects may be required. Working with Network Rail, there is also huge opportunity to double capacity on the capital’s rail network. A series of new river crossings are needed and an inner orbital road tunnel should be built. A new four runway hub airport should be located in the Thames estuary, to the east of the capital."

Brent & Kilburn Times: "QPR chairman Tony Fernandes confident new stadium will be open by 2018"

Link to web site

"QPR chairman Tony Fernandes remains convinced the club will move into a new 40,000-capacity stadium in Old Oak Common, Willesden, by 2018 despite current tenants Car Giant suggesting otherwise.

"Tony Mendes, the managing director of the west London car supermarket, called Rangers’ plans for a new stadium “speculative and presumptuous” as his company would need to be relocated for the project to go ahead.

"Mendes has also denied reports of an exclusivity agreement with the club and has warned the proposals “may take significantly longer” than was anticipated.

"Fernandes, however, is determined to proceed with the 'New Queens Park' project."

Stewart Murray, Barnet's ex-Planning Chief, now at the GLA: "Work for Me! We're currently 'consulting' on an Old Oak Common Mayoral Development Corporation"

Senior Strategic Planner (Mayoral Development Corporation – Old Oak Common/Park Royal) - Fixed Term/ Secondment (initially 12 months)

Salary: £40,322 per annum
Contract type: Full-time, fixed term
Reference: STAF507
Interview Date: TBC
Date posted: 4 July 2014
Closing date: 21 July 2014

"Transform West London as part
of a brand new specialist team!"

# "Come with me and you'll be

In a world of pure imagination

Take a look and you'll see

Into your imagination" #

Old Oak Common is the site of the largest regeneration initiative in West London. The arrival of High Speed 2 and Crossrail will bring a new superstation interchange. This exciting once-in-a-generation happening will unlock over 200 hectares of development opportunity, where we’ll forge a vibrant new city quarter. This will create 24,000 new homes and 55,000 new jobs - key to the Mayor of London’s growth targets. You’ll join the Greater London Authority’s new Mayoral Development Corporation (Transitional) Unit, which will drive strategic planning and preparation.

# "We'll begin with a spin

Trav'ling in the world of my creation

What we'll see will defy

Explanation" #

To join us, you will need a degree in town planning and RTPI professional membership, or equivalent. Proven post-qualification experience in a planning team or similar department is vital.   You will need to demonstrate good communication, negotiation and report writing skills. Crucially, your collaborative approach equips you to work with a number of London boroughs, transport and infrastructure agencies and developers/landowners.

# "If you want to view paradise

Simply look around and view it

Anything you want to, do it

Want to change the world, there's nothing to it" #

Your knowledge spans strategic spatial planning issues, legal processes and policy trends. We expect you to have a successful track record in either plan making, the development management of large complex planning applications, or strategic scale infrastructure planning and delivery. Knowledge of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) would also be an advantage.

# "There is no life I know

To compare with pure imagination

Living there, you'll be free

If you truly wish to be" #

If you would like to discuss this key role further, please contact the GLA's Stewart Murray, Assistant Director - Planning on 020 7983 4271. Alternatively, you can email glajobs@london.gov.uk quoting reference STAF507.

Closing date for receipt of completed applications: midnight on Monday 21 July 2014
Interviews will take place at City Hall on date TBC

Meet Stewie. And Brian!

BBC: " 'Heathrow City' designs unveiled by architects"

Link to web site

"About 190,000 new homes, parkland or even a factory could replace Heathrow Airport in west London if it closes, designs unveiled by architects show.

" 'Heathrow City' designs have been commissioned by Transport for London and backed by Mayor Boris Johnson who wants a Thames Estuary hub airport.

"Mr Johnson said Heathrow redevelopment was needed given the demand for homes.

"The government-appointed Airports Commission will decide in 2015 on whether an estuary airport is feasible.

"The Heathrow City plan envisions the future if the commission rejects plans for a third runway and selects the Thames Estuary option."

[Reposted] TFL briefing: London Overground at Old Oak Common

Overground at Old Oak Common

"Electric 'Boris cars' are coming to London – how do they work in Paris?"

"When the electric car-sharing scheme Autolib’ launched in the French capital, staff were advised to expect a complete disaster. Three years and 30m miles later, the biggest concern is pigeons"

Link to le Tuteur

"By any measure – including, judging from a random sample quizzed on the pavement last month, customer satisfaction – Paris’s Autolib’ electric car sharing scheme is looking like a success. Membership is up from 5,650 a month two-and-a-half years ago to 155,000 today. Between them, those members have clocked up the fairly remarkable total of 30.4 million miles. The service’s 2,500 Bluecars – hitting 3,000 by the end of this year – are now averaging a total of well over 10,000 rentals every day.

"Véronique Haché-Aguilar, managing director of Autolib’ Métropole, which groups the 63 town councils in and around Paris that operate the scheme, said:

"We're pleased. The main aim was to cut air pollution and reduce the load conventional cars place on the city, but still give people an easy option to use a car when they really need one. I think we're making progress."

Hammersmith & Fulham and Boris's Big Idea: "No to ‘anti-democratic’ Old Oak land-grab, says council"

"A proposal to take local planning powers away on one of the capital’s biggest housing projects are ‘an anti-democratic land grab’ which gives the potential for the Mayor to allow the building of properties for overseas speculators rather than homes Londoners can afford, according to Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council.

"The Mayor of London launched a consultation on plans to create a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) around Old Oak Common and Park Royal which is the area where the new High Speed 2 (HS2) hub station is expected to be built.

"The MDC would assume planning powers within its borders, which span large parts of the north of H&F and parts of Brent and Ealing. H&F’s new administration objects to this and has raised concerns that this is nothing more than a land-grab designed to make life easier for the developers – at the cost of local people.

Cllr Stephen Cowan, leader of H&F Council (left), said:

"This council objects to an MDC at Old Oak and Park Royal. We are concerned about the Mayor of London’s record on delivering truly affordable homes for Londoners and do not believe he should be entrusted with sole responsibility on a scheme of this importance.

We are committed to changing housing policies so that we build homes for residents rather than investment properties for overseas speculators and look forward to working with Ealing and Brent councils to do that. There is no good business case for the Mayor to step in.

In fact, the move in government over the years has been to devolve more powers to local communities not take them away. The Mayor’s proposed organisation is a throwback to decades long gone, it would be un-democratic and unnecessarily takes away powers from local residents and local businesses and essentially hands them over to developers and un-elected bureaucrats."

"The public consultation, which runs until September 24, 2014, is asking Londoners for their views on issues such as the proposed boundary, its potential planning powers and whether an MDC is the most effective way to deliver the regeneration.

Cllr Cowan added:

"Local people's views should be at the heart of decisions affecting the future of their community and this is their chance to make themselves heard. I urge residents to make their views known."

"Take part in the consultation by visiting this link.

"HS2 is set to make Old Oak Common Britain's best connected railway station as it acts as the main interchange between HS2 and Crossrail. Old Oak would have a vital role in taking pressure off busy central London terminals like Euston, the London terminus of HS2, which could not have coped with the 13,000 extra passengers an hour that HS2 will bring. A new generation of trains, running at speeds of up to 225mph will stop at the new Old Oak hub station.

"Five of the nation's airports will be linked to the high-speed rail network for the first time through the Old Oak interchange. Central London and Heathrow will be just 10 minutes away, Birmingham will be 40 minutes direct from Old Oak and Luton, Gatwick and City Airport will all be within 45 minutes.

"Around half of working age adults within 1.2miles of the station are unemployed. Some parts of the area - which includes a large amount of railway land with train depots, two waste recycling facilities, the Car Giant dealership and other light industrial uses - are in the bottom 1% most deprived nationally."

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"Conservative Councillors support the Mayor’s proposals to take over the planning for the Old Oak Common and Park Royal area. 

"This is a vast site, 950 hectares of desolate railway sidings and industrial land straddling three boroughs, which has the potential to become a thriving new district of London. It could have up to 24,000 new homes and provide more than 55,000 jobs.

"Lucy Ivimy (right), deputy leader of the Conservative opposition on Hammersmith & Fulham Council, said:

"Old Oak is too big and too important an opportunity to be left in the hands of a Council that is openly hostile to development. We all want more homes for London residents and a coherent strategy under a Mayoral Development Corporation is the best way to achieve that.

We believe in creating opportunity and building a vibrant economy. Hammersmith & Fulham badly needs more affordable market housing, and that is what we concentrated on delivering as a Conservative Council administration."

The Guardian: "London's soaring house prices make a long commute a little more attractive"

Link to web site

"London property prices are racing away from the rest of the country at such speed that an hour-long train journey to the office saves workers in the capital an average of £380,000 on the price of a home.

"Moving to one of 21 towns within an hour's commute of London can cut the cost of buying a property to an average of £260,000, according to research by Lloyds Banking Group, compared with £641,000 in London transport zones 1 and 2. That price difference more than offsets the typical £5,000-a-year cost of a season ticket.

"The most cost-effective commuter town is Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, where homes sell for an average of £150,000 – the price of a studio flat on Holloway Road in north London or a garage in Knightsbridge. The town is 45 minutes from St Pancras on East Midlands Trains, at a cost of £6,548 a year, and boasts good road links for workers who want to get to work by car."

New 'Hammersmith & Fulham Forum' web site

Link to web site

"This is a site celebrating life in the wonderful borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, offering a residents a forum to express their views and holding the council to account.

"It is edited by Harry Phibbs, a journalist and a Conservative councillor for Ravenscourt Park Ward.

"If you would like to write a guest post or you have a news item for us, please email Harry on harry.phibbs@gmail.com"

West London Sport: "Old Oak plan 'speculative & presumptuous'"

Link to web site

"QPR's plan to build a new stadium at Old Oak is 'speculative and presumptuous' according to the managing director of Cargiant, the west London-based car supermarket which must be relocated for the project to go ahead.

"Rangers want to build a sports arena as part of a Canary Wharf-style regeneration of the area, which has long been the ambition of the club’s Malaysian owners.

"But Tony Mendes, whose company owns 45 acres of the proposed site, has denied reports of an exclusivity agreement with QPR and also warned that the proposals 'may take significantly longer' to become reality than anticipated. Mendes said:

"We have been made aware of recent press reports regarding the regeneration of Old Oak Common, the site on which Cargiant sits."

DesignCurial: "Runway Success - What to do with London's airports"

Link to web site

"The only thing that seems certain is that London and the South East needs more airport capacity. With a range of proposals put forward, the Airports Commission is due to get down to the nitty-gritty of where and how it is to be supplied.

"Should it be a four-runway mega-hub in the Thames Estuary? Or maybe super-long runways at Heathrow? How about an incremental approach expanding Gatwick now, and Stansted later? Should Heathrow really be closed? These are the issues that will occupy Howard Davies' Airports Commission this year as it gets right down to the bare bones of how to expand airport provision in London and the South East.

"This is one big hot potato, one of those eternal, unsolved issues that has always proved just too strategically - and politically - hot to handle. Expansion first came up for discussion nearly 50 years ago, and since then there has simply been too much riding on it for anyone to agree and implement a strategy.

"What's at stake is not only the homes and well-being of those unlucky enough to be near any new runways but - we're told - the very future of the UK's airline industry, with huge knock-on effects for the UK economy as a whole."

Place West London: "Big change for Park Royal?"

Link to web site

"An MDC was last used to ensure the delivery of the 2012 Olympic facilities. [No, it wasn't.] It takes over the planning powers from the local authority, and gives the Mayor of London direct control of land planning, development and investment.

This would be a big change for Park Royal, which has suffered over the years by being across the boundaries of three local authorities – Hammersmith & Fulham, Brent, and Ealing. With no single authority in control, there has been a lack of joined-up planning, which, combined with the fragmented land ownership picture, has led to Park Royal remaining a bit of a hotch-potch.

The Mayor recently outlined proposals to turn the area of Old Oak – where HS2 and Crossrail would meet in a new interchange the size of Waterloo Station - into a new district with up to 24,000 new homes and more than 55,000 jobs. He has said he intends to create a new Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) to unlock what he sees as the enormous regeneration potential of 950 hectares of industrial land at Old Oak Common and Park Royal."

BORISOPOLIS: The Mayor's Old Oak Common & Park Royal Development Corporation

Old Oak Mdc Consultation Leaflet June 14

From Brent Council:

"The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has recently outlined proposals to transform Old Oak and Park Royal into a thriving new district with up to 24,000 new homes and more than 55,000 jobs.

"As part of this long term plan, the Mayor intends to create a new Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) to unlock the enormous regeneration potential of this 950 hectares of industrial land at Old Oak Common and Park Royal in West London.

"Please click here to find out more and to take part in the online consultation on Old Oak - Mayor's Development Corporation.

"The consultation will run until Wednesday, 24 September 2014."

Bola Olatunde, Consultation Officer
Assistant Chief Executive’s Service
020 8937 1073
07867 186 845
www.brent.gov.uk

Old Oak & Park Royal - Boris proposes a Mayoral Development Corporation (Good grief, we're doomed)

Link to consultation web site

"The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has recently outlined proposals to transform Old Oak and Park Royal into a thriving new district with up to 24,000 new homes and more than 55,000 jobs. As part of this long-term plan, the Mayor intends to create a new Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) to unlock the enormous regeneration potential of this 950 hectares of industrial land at Old Oak Common and Park Royal in West London.

A new Corporation for Old Oak and Park Royal would take the lead on the planning and regeneration of this strategically important London location. The purpose of the Corporation would be to:

"Deliver the physical, social, economic and environmental regeneration of Old Oak and Park Royal. To secure maximum benefits from the newly planned transport improvements. To plan for the transformational change at Old Oak and at the same time work to protect and regenerate the industrial areas of Park Royal. A central objective of the Corporation would be to secure high-quality sustainable development and investment for the benefit of the area and the communities that surround it."

"Consultation runs from 18 Jun 2014 to 24 Sep 2014."

Building: "WSP and Farrells picked for Old Oak Common station project"

"Engineer WSP and architect Farrells have been appointed to design options for an overground station at Old Oak Common to connect to the planned interchange between HS2 and Crossrail.

"There is currently no plan in place to connect London’s overground network to HS2 and Crossrail at Old Oak Common.

"WSP and Farrells will work up three options for how to connect the overground network to the two major rail projects.

"Dave Darnell, project director at WSP, said the scheme was:

"hugely exciting, and that there was “the potential to create a major new regional transport hub."

"He said a new station at Old Oak Common connecting into HS2 and Crossrail would:

"take some of the demand off existing overloaded routes by providing links to HS2 from the west and south west without travelling into central London.

It is technically and environmentally challenging and we will be drawing on our considerable experience in the successful design of stations and railway engineering both here in the UK and abroad and on the masterplanning expertise of our project partners, Farrells."

"Mayor sets out plan for 22-mile ring-road tunnel under London" (Good grief)

Link to Evening Standard

"Plans to transform central London with a 22-mile-long underground ring road can be revealed today.

"Costing £30 billion to construct, it would remove tens of thousands of cars from the crowded streets above.

"The Inner Orbital Tunnel would be one of the most ambitious infrastructure schemes ever seen in the city, with subterranean dual carriageways linking key routes, from the A40 Westway to the A12 in the east, and the A1 route north to the A2 running south." 

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Jeff Speck en Exploraciones para una Megalópolis 002: Ciudad Peatón from Laboratorio para la Ciudad on Vimeo. (Video in English!)

"La segunda edición de Exploraciones para una megalópolis, Ciudad Peatón, fue un espacio de diálogo y propuesta en torno a la recuperación de la escala humana, los espacios subutilizados, y el enfoque en el peatón –una de las prioridades del gobierno actual de la ciudad y una de las provocaciones a las que el Laboratorio dedicará especial atención este año.

"Jeff Speck es urbanista y arquitecto. A través de textos, conferencias y trabajo construido aboga internacionalmente por el crecimiento inteligente y el diseño sustentable. Como Director de Diseño del National Endowment for the Arts de EUA trabajó en un programa para erradicar la degradación urbana. También fue Director de Planeación en Duany Plater-Zybek and Co., agencia líder en Nuevo Urbanismo. Es coautor de Suburban Nation y de The Smart Growth Manual. Su más reciente libro se titula Walkable City, o Ciudad Caminable, y explora “cómo los centro urbanos pueden salvar Estados Unidos paso a paso."

Google Translate: "The second edition of Explorations for a Megalopolis, City Pedestrian, was a space for dialogue and proposal regarding the recovery of the human scale, underutilized spaces, and focus on the pedestrian-one of the priorities of the current city government and one of the provocations to which the Laboratory devote special attention this year.

Jeff Speck is a town planner and architect. Through texts, lectures, and built work internationally advocating for smart growth and sustainable design. As Director of Design at the National Endowment for the Arts U.S. worked in a program to eradicate urban blight. He was also Director of Planning at Duany Plater-Zybek and Co., a leader in New Urbanism agency. He is co-author of Suburban Nation and The Smart Growth Manual. His most recent book is titled Walkable City, or City walkable, and explores "how urban center can save the United States step by step."

IanVisits: "Crossrail TBM gets police escort through East London"

Link to web site

"You’re a tunnel boring machine, quietly boring your way under London, when suddenly you get a police escort!

"Well, that happened to Crossrail recently, as one of their TBMs had to be taken from Stepney, over to the Limmo Peninsula near Canning Town in East London."

Evening Standard: "Overhaul of Euston starts to take shape"

Link to web site
(image is of 2008 scheme)

"There is a political and planning minefield to cross before Related Companies can break ground on a £5.3 billion redevelopment of Euston station.

"But the giant US developer of Hudson Yards in New York has made a shrewd first move.

"A lock-up agreement was signed earlier this month with the Gross family, owners of Sydney & London — a relative tiddler but landlord of 300,000 square feet of ageing real estate sat on two acres in front of the station. 'Any other bidder will have to issue us with a compulsory purchase order,' S&L’s chief executive Richard Anning said."

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Link to S&L documents

"In 2008, in conjunction with Atkins, we published our Vision Masterplan for the redevelopment of Euston Station and the surrounding area. Commissioned by the owners of The Euston Estate, the project helped us to understand the potential for a comprehensive, mixed use, over-station development scheme at Euston that reflected the aspirations of the various stakeholders as well as the constraints associated with delivering a project of that scale. However, the announcement in 2010 that Euston had been selected as the London terminus for the HS2 rail project meant that the scheme proposed in our Vision Masterplan was no longer deliverable.

"We have therefore revisited the original scheme and, working again with Atkins and our new development partner, Related Corporation – the American developers behind the Hudson Rail Yards scheme in New York – have produced an updated document that sets out the principles behind a revised masterplan. This scheme is compatible with the current HS2 proposals for Euston ('Option 8') but will also maximise the value from the site, helping to fund the station modernisation and deliver the community.

New Civil Engineer: Old Oak Common

"Ambitious plans to transform one of the most deprived parts of London into a thriving new district with up to 24,000 new homes and more than 55,000 jobs have moved a step closer.

"Deputy mayor for planning Sir Edward Lister has announced that City Hall is about to enter detailed negotiations with three local authorities for the creation of a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDCto drive the comprehensive regeneration of a 80ha semi-industrial site at Old Oak Common, West London.

"The Mayor’s team will shortly meet with Hammersmith & Fulham, Brent and Ealing councils to agree these details so that the MDC can best maximise the enormous benefits that are linked to the construction of the High Speed 2 (HS2) and Crossrail superhub station that is due to be constructed by 2026.

"Lister made the announcement at the Mipim property fair in Cannes today [20 March]. The announcement follows Johnson’s keynote speech at the same event earlier this week:

"Transport vital to London regeneration effort says Mayor"