Location of new 'Countdown' digital bus stop displays announced

Click above to enlarge

Colindale transport in 2050 (it is not as if Barnet can be bothered to think ahead)

Euroclick for Eurolink to Eurosite

Press conference on the adoption of the EU White paper on Transport 2050:

Today we present our Roadmap for the Future of Transport 2050. Freedom to travel is a basic right for our citizens, and it is critical to the development of a Europe's business sector. We need a competitive European Transport System, which delivers transport for people.

We have meet very challenging goals by the 2050s, [including]:

• No more conventionally-fuelled cars in our city centres, by the middle of the century
• A 50% shift in middle distance journeys, by both passengers and freight, from road to rail and other modes.

The speech WE would give: "£1.5-billion of Colindale development - and no transport infrastructure"

Link to web site

Keynote speaker:

Director of Planning, Housing and Regeneration, Barnet

Professional
Chartered Town Planner and corporate member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (MRTPI).

Profile: a strategic development and regeneration expert in London involved in some of the largest development and regeneration schemes in the Capital for 20 years including the Olympics/Thames Gateway, Kings Cross, Wembley, London Bridge, Brent Cross Cricklewood.

Daily Telegraph: "A global energy war looms"

Link to Telegraph

"It should indeed be possible to accommodate the rise of China and other emerging markets without exhausting resources or destroying the planet. But it’s going to require massive collective will, of a type the US and others have been unwilling to contemplate up until now."

Jeremy Warner, assistant editor of The Daily Telegraph, is one of Britain's leading business and economics commentators.

Beaufort Park - Catalyst Housing advert

"Unfinished London" videos - get the set!

Evening Standard: "We need architects who understand this city"

Link to web site

"While modern architecture is often seen as the problem, you don't see people throwing street parties to celebrate the completion of the latest Prince Charles-inspired brick boxes, or the latest estate of executive suburban homes, either. A long time ago, the development industry lost the public's confidence. Think of St George Wharf in Vauxhall, one of London's ugliest buildings, or the overbearing blocks appearing now at Hale Village in Tottenham.

"It is not conservative taste that drives the public's scepticism, but the often negative transformation of the city into a place of monocultural housing blocks, with cheap supermarkets on the ground floors. These are not what London is made of."

Criticism of "LegoLand" Housing by Ministers

Link to The Guardian

"Previous housing ministers have railed against uniform design, largely driven by developers' lower costs. Ministers hope that the concept of neighbourhood plans, designed and voted on by communities themselves, might drive architects out of their complacency.

"Planning and Decentralisation minister, Greg Clark, joins Housing Minister Grant Shapps in condemning British household architecture, saying 'banal, identikit housing schemes have given development a bad name'."

The Guardian: "Air pollution in areas of heavy traffic shortens life expectancy"

Link above to The Guardian

"The high concentration of many fine particles, largely due to emissions from diesel engines and heating systems, knocks almost two years off the average life expectancy of residents of Bucharest, and six months off the life of Parisians."

'Barnet Eye' pulls off "PROHIBITED" videoing of council meeting

Further details about this video are in this first 'Barnet Eye' post.

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Click above for second 'Barnet Eye' post

On the right is a second Barnet Eye post, regarding the end of that council meeting:

Robin Hood Tax - would have protected council services?

Following recording ban of 'Colindale Area Action Plan' decisions, is this openness at last?

Link to the web site

"Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles said today:

"Local Government Minister Bob Neill has written to all councils, urging greater openness and calling on them to adopt a modern day approach, so that credible community or 'hyper-local' bloggers and online broadcasters get the same routine access to council meetings as the traditional accredited media have.

"The letter sent today reminds councils that local authority meetings are already open to the general public, which raises concerns about why in some cases bloggers and press have been barred."

'Barnet Press' letter: Applicable to Colindale as well? (click to enlarge, maybe twice)

Barnet Times: "Resident Nick Poullora takes parking fine campaign to Barnet Council"

Link to Barnet Times

"Angry Colindale residents are taking their fight against parking tickets to Barnet Council tonight, in a bid to get their money refunded:

"We've been parking like this for years, and it hasn't caused a problem – but now the council have targeted us to make money."

More on-site green jobs in Colindale?

Director of Planning quits control of Colindale - and everywhere else!

Job Details

Director for Planning, Environment and Regeneration

Location: Barnet, North London

Colindale and the Campaign for Clean Air in London

Link to The Guardian

"His frustrations with the Labour government over its failure to act has been compounded by the Tory-led coalition. He believes it attempted to 'mislead' the European Commission in September, on the scale of breaches on dangerous particles, known as PM10s."

The Economist: Secretary Of State Eric Pickles's 'Localism Agenda'?

Link to The Economist

"The lowest tier of government in London is its 32 borough councils, serving an average population of around 250,000. But activists are hoping to set up new representative bodies, at a much more local level."

Barnet Times: "Residents in Mill Hill call meeting for showdown with Saracens over Copthall stadium plans"

Link to Barnet Times

"Dozens of people living around the stadium in Mill Hill are expected to attend the two-hour forum on 15 February, aimed at talking through a range of issues."

Evening Standard: "Boris Johnson recruits troubleshooter for the suburbs"

Link to Evening Standard

"The Mayor has asked Tory Bexley council leader Teresa O'Neill to help him tackle problems with housing, transport and employment in the outer boroughs."