Residents’ group and recognised tenants’ association
Land Securities are preparing a scheme for the redevelopment of the 21 Moorfields site and recently presented this scheme to local residents at a public exhibition held at St Giles’ Cripplegate. Overall, Willoughby House Group and the Barbican Association too think that the development is welcome. It preserves – and enhances – highwalk access across the site, and the increase in height is stepped away from the Barbican. We are hopeful that most other concerns can be addressed through planning conditions.
One serious concern has recently surfaced. We have learned that the developer would like to clear the way for the roof terraces facing Willoughby House to be available to for their office tenants to use both early morning and late evening, especially if they are used to host receptions or social events.
Your house group thinks this has the potential to cause a lot of disturbance to residents. Almost all the rooms facing the site are bedrooms, but many people also use these rooms for other purposes too. Though amplified sound would not be permitted on the roof terraces, the noise from an excited group of people attending, say, a drinks reception in the evening on one of the terraces could be very loud and intrusive – especially due to the way sound reverberates around the street and facade of our building.
Planning won’t be able to prevent the use of the terraces during the daytime – planning guidelines don’t allow them to be that restrictive. But we can seek curbs on their use in the evenings or early morning. The developer would like to give their office tenants unrestricted use up to 10.00 pm and from 7.00 in the morning. We think that is too much, and that the hours should be cut back to something more reasonable.
We have created a short survey to capture people’s views on what they think reasonable usage is. Willoughby House residents can access the survey by following this link. All information will be treated in confidence, and the findings will only be presented in aggregate.
The developers intend to proceed with a planning application towards the end of this year. We will let everyone know when that planning application is open for comments.
Our Annual General Meeting takes place at Davy’s City Boot wine bar, Moorfields Highwalk, at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 23 April. Before the usual reports and elections, there will be a presentation from Ian Ratcliffe of Vision Fibre Media (VFM) who are now carrying out the TV and broadband upgrade across the Estate. Ian will give a brief overview of the different services being provided – TV, phone and broadband, and also explain how these will be provided to each resident’s flat – how the fibre cabling will work and what boxes will be provided if you opt for either the free or the optional paid-for services. This will be followed by a question-and-answer session.
The second half of the meeting will consist of reports from the acting Chairman and the Treasurer, followed by the election of up to seven residents to serve on the Willoughby House Group management committee for the coming 12 months.
As four of the existing committee is standing down, we welcome residents to come forward and fill these vacancies, and bring some welcome fresh ideas and input to the committee.
Your house group committee will be pleased provide a complementary glass of wine (or soft drink) to all members at the start of the meeting. Our meeting is at the ‘large table’ near the entrance closest to Willoughby House.
CWilloughby House Summer Party – an open invitation to all residents at Willoughby House. Wednesday 31st July starting at 6.30 pm on Speed House lawn. Wine, soft drinks and wonderful food will be provided. £6 per adult to cover costs collected on the night; under 16s free. No need to pre-book. Simply come and enjoy!
Your House Group Committee hopes you will be able to join us for our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 12 June at 7.30 pm. Davy’s City Boot is located on Moorfields Highwalk, between Willoughby House and the escalator down to Moorgate underground station. We will be occupying the large table to the right of the bar, through the first entrance you come to, when approaching from Willoughby House.
As I write this, I can count six building sites visible or audible from my balcony overlooking Fore Street. Those of you nearer to Silk Street will be enduring two more – the Heron/Milton Court complex, and separately, work in our car parks, fitting out ready for Heron residents. The end is at least in sight for Milton Court, but work is now about to start on St Alphage. Brookfield, the new owner, has appointed Keltbray to do the demolition. Enabling works and soft sripping-out has now started, and the noisy demolition work is due to start in November – fortunately by the time our windows will be closed again, assuming warmer weather ever arrives this year.
The demolition work is simply to clear the site. Building work will not start until Brookfield have a pre-let, which they do not have yet – so we may be staring into an empty hole for a while.
WHG, along with all other neighbouring house groups and the BA have set up a regular series of consultation meetings with the developer, and we will be watching their plans carefully to ensure every step is taken to mitigate what is going to be a noisy and disruptive process. At least the timing means it will take place when windows are more likely to be closed.
Even before the new GSMD building is open, Barbican Centre and GSMD are in the process of applying to override the planning condition that says public performances must stop by 11pm for the new school building. This condition was put in specifically to protect local residents. They now wish to extend to midnight. Even if the number of late events are infrequent, as they propose, this will still mean late night disturbance for residents on or close to Silk Street.
We have been in discussion with GSMD, in association with Speed House and the BA. GSMD are aware of the strong opposition they face to this move. We will be in touch again when any application is made, as our objections will be made stronger if they are also supported by many objections from those who directly affected. We will let you know when this application goes live.
In last year’s AGM notice, we told you of Heron’s audacious request to extend its temporary planning permission for another 18 months beyond the original 3 years it was granted.
Nobody could accuse this developer of sensitivity to its neighbours. Almost a month after this extended permission had lapsed on the 31 March, you probably received the planning notification that Heron is applying for a further extension for three more months.
Your house group has objected, as has Speed House Group and the Barbican Association. The planning site shows numerous objections from residents from Willoughby and Speed Houses too – sufficient for this application now to go before the planning committee. We are pressing for the City to apply an enforcement notice to ensure the building goes.
AGENDA
AGENDA
1. Apologies for absence
2. Minutes of previous AGM, 18 May 2011
3. Matters Arising
4. Chairman’s report
The chairman will report on the work of the House Group during 2011 and describe current issues facing Willoughby House, including Milton Court, Crossrail, Moor Lane street scene, Moorgate Telephone Exchange, St Alphage House and other redevelopments.
5. Treasurer’s report and presentation of the annual accounts
6. Election of Committee for 2012/13
All members of the committee stand down annually. The meeting may elect seven members to serve for the coming year.
7. Membership resolution
Each flat within Willoughby House will be granted membership of Willoughby House Group until the next AGM, unless the owner or tenant notifies the Hon Secretary that he or she does not wish to be a member during this period
8. Setting the membership subscription for 2011
The committee recommends that the current subscription charge of zero be maintained for the coming year.
Our next house group meeting is on the 21st November and will be at Wood Street Bar & Restaurant, starting at 7.30pm.We have invited Helen Davinson, our Barbican Estate House Officer, who will be available to answer any questions about Estate matters. We will also have our usual agenda, including a round-up of the many local developments taking place on our doorstep:
Our meeting will take place in the downstairs bar and starts at 7.30. Wood Street bar can be reached easily by the lift or stairs by Gilbert House South that lead down to St Giles’ terrace.
Tuesday July 10th, 6.30pm, Speed LawnYour committee is hoping that, by mid-July, it may be warm enough to venture on to Speed House Lawn without coat, scarf and gloves.
In 2012, we have more reasons than usual for a party – but the one we really celebrate each year is the unique joy of living here at the Barbican, and particularly in the Barbican’s unique block, Willoughby House.
For anyone new to Willoughby House, our annual summer party provides the perfect opportunity to meet many of your neighbours, and put names to some the faces you only see fleetingly in lifts, lobbies and stairs.
As always, the party will take place on Speed House Lawn from 6.30pm onwards, and all residents are warmly invited to come. Finger food, wine and soft drinks are provided: there is a £6 charge per adult which is payable on the night. No need to book! Just turn up on the night.
Download the minutes as a PDF
These minutes have been redacted of all personally identifying data. To download the full, password protected version, use the link above. The password can be obtained from the WHG Chair.
WILLOUGHBY HOUSE GROUP
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting
Held at Wood Street Bar & Restaurant, Tuesday 17 April 2012 at 7.30
Attended by:
Committee: S Ebbins, J Prentice, T Macer, P Reid, V Mills, N Sayigh, C Swash
Ordinary members:
C Porter, C Purchase, A & J Mulcahy, Tuffs, M, G Castle Stewart, J Soames, I Montgomery, P & A Davenport, J Smart
1. Apologies for Absence
A Jackson, Barbara & Roy Dalton, I Bradford, A Sweeny, H Baruch-Joffee, JS and RD Lund, D & V Richards, J Pointing, R Mann, L Hemming, C Parkin.
The chair recorded that he had received ten proxy votes from absent members, all of which indicated the votes were to be applied at the discretion of the chair.
2. Minutes of the last AGM held on May 18th, 2011
The minutes were read, and with minor amendments noted, were accepted as a true record.
3. Matters Arising
There were no matters arising not covered by the agenda.
4. Chairman’s Report
Tim Macer summarized a very busy year. He spoke of a planning application that had been rejected concerning late opening hours for conferences at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The Heron Sales Pavilion had applied for an extension, which if granted would again delay the street improvement scheme for Moor Lane.
Redevelopment of the former telephone exchange building is going ahead, and demolition is well advanced. So far, disruption has been minimal. The chairman reported he had learned that day that a planning application from the developer to move the delivery entrance to much closer to Willoughby House had been withdrawn. They were aware that they had received a great many objections from residents. The chair expressed thanks to all who had taken the time to lodge objections, as he believed these had been influential
Concern was expressed over the Moor Lane crossing opposite the Podium lift. Residents felt that the needs of pedestrians – especially less able pedestrians – had not been sufficiently addressed. The Corporation’s officers were proposing traffic calming and a mini-roundabout with granite setts. WHG was concerned that they were not recommending a zebra crossing.
The problem of access to the Barbican complex from Moorgate Underground was described as due to essential work by Crossrail compounded by the life-expired state of the escalators. Furthermore, while work continued, an acoustic barrier would have to be kept in place in this part of the estate to mask the noise of the deep workings needed for the scheme. This area, however, was felt to remain unnecesarily unwelcoming.
Tim Macer also touched briefly on recent changes. No work has started on the St Alphage site and nor does there seem any immediate prospect of a site. In a separate development, Hammerson, developers of the site had declared it is withdrawing from office developments in favour of retail. The effect on this site is unknown. J P Morgan is in the process of leaving the City, vacating Alban Gate, in is move to Canary Wharf. Planning permission for the development on 21 Moorfields has lapsed although this space will be a prime site once Cross Rail has been completed.
The chair thanked the members of the committee for their work and support for the House Group throughout the year, and also to Helen Davinson for her work in looking after Willoughby House, as House Officer.
5. Treasurer’s Report
Petre Reid revealed that the Group’s financial position was healthy, although the Summer Party (so successfully run by Susan Hoskins) had made a small loss of £36.00. He pointed out that all office expenses were automatically reimbursed by the Corporation.
However, Petre added that he needed another signatory for cheques since Steve Grimwood had moved away. Tim Macer was suggested, proposed by Petre Reid and seconded by Michael Swash.
The financial statements appear on pages 3-4
6. Election of the Committee for 2012/13
The chair had received seven nominations to the committee:
As the constitution permitted the AGM to elect up to seven members to the committee, no competitive election would take place. The chair therefore proposed that the meeting elected all proposed candidates, and this was seconded by Simon Ebbins.
Decision: Accepted unanimously
7. Resolutions
Two resolutions had been circulated to members in advance of the meeting, and these were presented for the meeting for decision.
7.1 Resolution on membership
“That each flat within Willoughby House will be granted membership of Willoughby House Group until the next AGM, unless the owner or tenant notifies the Hon Secretary in writing that he or she does not wish to be a member during this period.” Proposed by T Macer and seconded by C Swash.
Decision: accepted unanimously
7.2 Setting the membership subscription for 2011
“That the annual membership subscription which was £0.00 (no charge) previously, shall be retained at the same rate for a further year.” Proposed by P Reid and seconded by C Swash.
Decision: accepted unanimously.
The meeting closed at 8.35 pm with thanks to the chairman and treasurer.
At Tuesday’s AGM, Tim Macer, WHG Chair, was able to announce that two of three recent planning applications with a direct impact on Willouguhy House, which many residents had objected to, had been withdrawn by the respective applicants. Last week, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama had pulled their request to vary their earlier consent so that they could hold public events at the new GSMD Milton Court site, under construction, until as late as midnight. The permission they had limited them to occasional use until 11pm, and had strict conditions about the acoustic insulation required to ensure there was no noise leakage. Over sixty objections were received.
The second application was the variation to the Telephone Exchange redevelopment, and this was withdrawn earlier this week. This would have moved the delivery and refuse bay from by Moor House to a location on Fore Street overlooked by flats at the South end of Willoughby House. Many residents wrote in to object to this one too. This means the scheme will be built in line with the original application, with servicing at the other side of the building, well away from residents. Demolition of the old telephone exchange is now well advanced (see picture above), and considering the bulk and scale of the building, disruption to residents has so far been relatively minor.
There is a third planning issue at present which many Willoughby House residents are also concerned about – for the Heron Sales Pavilion under the parapet of Willoughby House on Moor Lane to have its temporary permission for three years extended by another 18 months – something Heron explicitly said it would not do, and would have no reason to do when applying for permission. The difficulty now is that, if an extension is granted, it is almost certain to delay the long-awaited Moor Lane streetscape improvements. This work was programmed to start when the Olympics are finished, in the Autumn, but as it includes the site occupied by the sales unit, and will involve planting trees etc right around it, the work can only be done when this temporary building has been removed.
You can find the Heron application, and make comments on it here on the City’s Planning Portal.
We welcome Nazar Sayigh as our newest elected member to the WHG Committee. Naz has been an active supporter and co-opted member of the committee in recent years. He joins Simon Ebbins, Tim Macer, Valerie Mills, James Prentice, Petre Reid and Caroline Swash, who were all re-elected to serve for a further year. The AGM also passed two resolutions: that membership subscriptions remain at no cost (£0.00) for the coming year, and that all residents are granted membership for the year, unless they inform the secretary that they do not wish to be members.
Your House Group Committee hopes you will be able to join us for our Annual General Meeting. We have printed the agenda overleaf: please bring this with you. Our aim is to keep the committee business short, and then enjoy drinks together at the bar, which we have reserved for our private use.
During the year, Susan Hosking has had to stand down from the committee, due to work commitments. We will all miss her wonderful summer parties. All other members of the committee have indicated they are willing to stand for re-election. Their names are listed overleaf.
This leaves one empty post, as our constitution allows for up to seven elected members. If you are interested in representing residents’ interests as a member of the house group, please contact the chair, Tim Macer, or any committee member.
You will see that item 7 is a resolution proposed by your committee. For six years now we have set our annual subscription at £0.00, because the House Group essentially has no costs to meet: the costs we do incur for printing etc. are recoverable from the City of London as a Recognised Tenants’ Association – provided we maintain our status as an RTA.
Over the years, the City has become more assiduous in monitoring RTA status. There is now quite a list of things we must satisfy. One is that we must present a membership list each year which shows that at least 50% of the long leaseholders are members. (We, on the other hand, accept all residents as members, whether long-leaseholders or not).
Though we do our best to keep our membership list up-to-date, this is hard to do without the annual business of collecting ‘the subs’, which we are in no hurry to return to. The BEO does not supply us with a list of residents, as this information is confidential, so we cannot tell which members are long leaseholders, and which are not. However, this simple resolution allows us to assert that we satisfy RTA qualifying criteria for membership criteria – and this method is accepted by the Town Clerk’s office. This resolution will become a regular feature of WHG AGMs in future years.
All members of the committee stand down annually. The meeting may elect seven members to serve for the coming year. The following six serving members of the committee are willing to stand for re-election:
Simon Ebbins
James Prentice
Petre Reid
Tim Macer
Valerie Mills
Caroline Swash
“That each flat within Willoughby House will be granted membership of Willoughby House Group until the next AGM, unless the owner or tenant notifies the Hon Secretary in writing that he or she does not wish to be a member during this period.”
Proposed by T Macer and seconded by C Swash.
“That the annual membership subscription which was £0.00 (no charge) previously, shall be retained at the same rate for a further year.”
Resolution proposed by P Reid and seconded by C Swash.