[Reposted from Sep 2009] Barnet Press and Evening Standard: Brent Cross woes

The American Conservative: "Why Cities Are Demolishing Freeways"

Link to web site

"Late last month, the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) released its latest edition of 'Freeways Without Futures', a report on efforts to remove parts of underused highways in ten American cities. The study underscores the role locals are playing in the replacement movement and also outlines the many benefits of having fewer highways running through dense urban areas.

"The report contends that the cores of American cities have seen a massive hollowing out since the passing of the Federal-Aid Highway Act in 1956. “As highways were built through existing communities,” the report begins, 'residents were cut off from social and economic centers, key resources and services, and the nearby destinations of their daily lives.'

Today, many of those highways are reaching the end of their design life and cities are facing what CNU calls a 'watershed moment'. Instead of rebuilding and repairing old highways, the report suggests cities should replace them with infrastructure that is pedestrian friendly, density prone, and extremely profitable. 'Cities are waking up to a simple solution: remove instead of replace'."

The Guardian: "Revealed: the insidious creep of pseudo-public space in London"

Link to web site

"A Guardian Cities investigation has for the first time mapped the startling spread of pseudo-public spaces across the UK capital, revealing an almost complete lack of transparency over who owns the sites and how they are policed.

"Pseudo-public spaces – large squares, parks and thoroughfares that appear to be public but are actually owned and controlled by developers and their private backers – are on the rise in London and many other British cities, as local authorities argue they cannot afford to create or maintain such spaces themselves.

"Although they are seemingly accessible to members of the public and have the look and feel of public land, these sites – also known as privately owned public spaces or 'Pops' – are not subject to ordinary local authority bylaws but rather governed by restrictions drawn up the landowner and usually enforced by private security companies."

New York Times: "Deep in the Malls of Texas, a Vision of Shopping’s Future"

Link to web site

"Many malls across America have hit tough times, squeezed by changing demographics and competition from e-commerce, discount stores and newer malls with more diverse offerings. Morningstar Credit Ratings recently called the changes in the industry a 'seismic shift' and warned of more financial pain ahead. Hundreds of department stores, mall anchors for decades, are expected to shut their doors this year.

"Several shopping centers in Texas give a peek into how mall owners and developers are responding. In spots where the shopping activity has slowed, the response is clear: Move away from strictly shopping, and expand the mix to include more restaurants and entertainment, or health care and education. Or, in the case of Valley View Center, start over from scratch.

" 'Dining and entertainment is the new anchor — not Sears, not Macy's,' said Allan Davidov of Misuma Holdings, based in Beverly Hills, Calif., which is transforming two shopping centers in Austin, Tex."

New Scientist: "Fighting climate change could trigger a massive financial crash"

Link to web site

"The great crash of 2023 made the 2007 financial crisis look like a blip. It was triggered by US president Bernie Sanders signing emergency measures to slash carbon emissions. Investors started panic-selling stocks in fossil fuel companies. Trillions were wiped from the stock markets within days – and hundreds of millions of people around the world lost their pensions.

"Impossible? Not according to financial regulators, who are so concerned about the prospect of climate-related financial crashes that they are already taking action to stop them happening. They want all big organisations to start assessing and disclosing their climate-related risks.

" 'The whole point of this exercise is to avoid that kind of crash happening,' says Michael Wilkins of credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings, a member of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, which unveiled its guidelines last week."

Barnet Press: Brent Cross Whitefield tower blocks, flats and houses

The Independent: "China is building first 'forest city' of 40,000 trees to fight air pollution"

Link to web site

"In the wake of President Trump's decision to remove America from the Paris Climate agreement, you'd be forgiven for feeling a little negative about the future of the planet.

  "With reports of huge cracks appearing in the Antarctic ice, fears that preventing the two-degree heating of the planet might be a pipe dream, and the world's food supplies at risk - everything looks and sounds grim.

"Fortunately though, there are some good news stories on the horizon; with many of them coming from China. The country has been leading the way when it comes to 'green living' in recent years, with the government announcing it had completed construction of the world's largest floating solar farm. Now, in an attempt to curb the production of toxic gasses, the country is continuing to pave the way (so to speak) with the construction of one of the world's first 'forest cities'."

[Reposted] Senior Planning Officer Job Vacancy in Barnet | Apply Now

Recruiter: London Borough of Barnet

Posted: 07 September 2012

Ref: 101371

Location: Barnet

Sector: Local Authority

Function: Officer

Discipline: Planning

Hours: Full Time

Contract Type: Permanent

Barnet is looking for a qualified planning officer with significant experience of dealing with planning applications, to assist in the delivery of an efficient and effective planning service. We are looking for an individual with varied experience within a development management role at a senior level.

You will need to:

• Demonstrate their ability to work on their own initiative
• Be enthusiastic, have excellent communication and organisational skills
• Be committed to putting our customers first and be innovative and forward thinking.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• process a wide range of planning applications including presenting cases to planning committees
• defend council decisions at appeal
• give professional advice in person and over the telephone to customers and colleagues
• deal with day to day written correspondence.

If shortlisted you will be required to bring photographic ID to your interview to prove your identity.
Closing date: 5pm, 19 September 2012.

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Crazy Planning Facts in Barnet:
'The Curse of Brent Cross',
and 'The Night of the Long Knives':

Formet Barnet planning big cheese
Stewart Murray
showing the Brent Cross plan to
Bob Neill MP,
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
at the
Department of Communities and Local Government.


On 4 September 2012,
Bob's virtues were recognised, when
Mr Cameron made him the
former 
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
at the
Department of Communities and Local Government.

Transport Network: "Q and A: TfL's Alex Williams and the long-term future of London's transport"

"Alex Williams, director of city planning at Transport for London, talks to Transport Network about mayor Sadiq Khan's draft transport strategy, which includes proposals for per-mile road user charging"

Link to web site

"What is the feeling about the approach of the public to the strategy. Are you expecting a negative reaction to road user charging?"

"This is a comprehensive strategy for the next 25 years dealing with the feel of streets, the quality of the public transport offer, and how we need to enhance it, looking at capacity to help deliver new homes and jobs, so that a core part of the document.

"To get to that ambitious mode shift target of 80% we need to look at issues about how we manage the road network, whether you do also need to shift to a distance-based road charging system. Yes, 64% of journeys are currently made by sustainable modes - walking cycling and public transport. That has increased from 53% 15 years ago; in 2015 it was 64%. And the aim is by 2041 to get it up to 80%.

"We will have to see how the public reacts. This document has been drafted with an extensive pre consultation. Several hundred people were involved in the discussions around this document. There is an appetite to support a big shift to sustainable modes but also keep open that debate about how we manage and pay for our roads. It is worth noting this is the third Mayor's Transport Strategy. Every single one of them has had policies of road pricing. It would be completely negligent of us not to include something on that issue."