MINUTES OF THE WARDMOTE
HELD AT NOON ON WEDNESDAY 21st MARCH 2018
AT DRAPERS’ HALL
The Beadle opened the Wardmote in the usual manner.
The Alderman welcomed all to the Wardmote and thanked the Worshipful Company of Drapers for the use of their Hall. He was glad that members of the Ward were actually attending in light of the mix up in invitation letters with those of Bread Street Ward, for which he apologised. He also congratulated Mr John Scott on his future appointment as Chief Commoner.
Next the Alderman appointed Mr John Bennett as the Ward Deputy for the year ensuing.
The Alderman appointed Mr Adrian Smallwood as Honorary Ward Clerk for the year ensuing. He also thanked the Broad Street Ward Club for their generosity by acquiring a gown for the Honorary Ward Clerk to use at Wardmotes, which the Honorary Ward Clerk was then invited to show off.
The Alderman then invited the Common Councilmen to address the Wardmote but requested that Mr Christopher Hayward CC combine his personal address with his later presentation on developments within the Ward.
Mr Bennett began his address by noting that he had been Ward Deputy for nearly nine years. He made specific mention of his role in being a member of various committees and boards, which generally had remits relating to culture and education, being the Policy and Resources Committee, the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Barbican Centre Board, the Education Board, the City of London Freemen’s School, the Gresham (City Side) Committee, and the working parties of the ‘Culture Mile’ and Standards Regime.
Mr Bennett then illuminated his roles in these committees with some examples of their achievements and developments. He described the Culture Mile as a creative initiative in the north west quarter of the City running from West Smithfield to Moorgate. A particular highlight was a recent event which saw the closure of Beech Street, enabling the tunnel to be converted into a light and sound installation titled “Tunnel Visions: Array”.
He then gave an update on the relocation of the Museum of London to Smithfield in 2020/21 which can then make possible a new world class concert hall at the vacated site. The business case is currently under review, with a report due by the end of the year. Should it go ahead, the new concert hall is hoped to be delivered at some point between 2025-2027.
As regards the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Mr Bennett mentioned that the new Principal, Lynne Williams, is now in post and is full of ideas on the quality of teaching, the offer and the school itself, where a 5-year strategic plan is being produced.
Mr Bennett finished his address by speaking about the 4 schools within the City of London and also the 8 academy schools in surrounding London Boroughs that are sponsored by the City of London Corporation. He reported that there was good cross fertilisation amongst all twelve schools, with collaboration and exchanges between teachers, preparation for Oxbridge exams and music, where a combined concert from all schools was a particular highlight and success.
Mr Scott began his address by noting that next year would be his 20th as a Common Councillor. He too spoke about his current roles at the City of London Corporation. He is Deputy Chairman of the Markets Committee, where his strategic review of all markets is looking into the possibility of a single composite market location in east London. He noted some of the driving forces behind this investigation, being the New Spitalfields market which has the largest number of fork lift trucks per sq ft, Billingsgate market having enormous land value as the last undeveloped site in Docklands, and the movement of articulated lorries in and out of Smithfields market becoming ever more difficult.
The highlight of his next year will be his appointment as Chief Commoner, which he noted was “chief peasant” when translated into Chinese. In that role he is planning fund-raising events with and for the London Symphony Orchestra and Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Mr Scott also drew attention to his other roles. He is a member of the Board of the Museum of London, the Gresham (City Side) Committee, the Port Health & Environmental Services Committee, the Board of Governors of Christ’s Hospital, the Thames Festival Trust, and the City of London Archaeological Trust.
Following the addresses, the Alderman invited the Wardmote to ask any questions, where he first answered a pre-submitted question from Roger Watts of Trident Building Consultancy Ltd regarding rough sleepers. The Alderman noted that the number of rough sleepers within the City of London has increased, and can range on any one night between 3-35, but there is little legal power to stop it. The Ward has one rough sleeper who is at the junction of London Wall and Throgmorton Avenue. He is visited by the City of London outreach team at least once a week. During the recent cold weather, the City of London Corporation applied the ‘Severe Weather Emergency Protocol’. The Alderman also drew attention to the handout on rough sleeping which had been placed on audience seats.
The Alderman then drew further attention to the other handout for the audience which related to crime statistics both for the Ward and the City of London as a whole. He noted that Broad Street had a low level of crime in the City, with only 80 crimes reported. He commended the City of London Police for doing an exceptional job.
There were no questions from the floor.
Next the Alderman invited Mr Hayward to address the Wardmote generally and also on current and planned development projects in the Ward.
Mr Hayward began by noting his membership of various committees, highlighting those of being the Chair of the Planning and Transportation Committee, and membership of the Finance Committee, and the Policy and Resources Committee.
He drew attention to the fact that the Ward continues to evolve, highlighting that buildings continue to be renewed or refurbished and that the advent of Crossrail (of which there was an exit just to the north of the Ward) is estimated to bring an additional 60,000 people into the City, on top of the current 483,000 commuters and 10,000 residents. He noted that 99% of companies in the City are small or medium sized enterprises (‘SMEs’) although 250 of the largest companies employ over 50% of City workers. Finance remains a core element of City business but this too is evolving with new arrivals of financial media and technology businesses.
Mr Hayward then went on to talk about various building developments and transportation initiatives in and around the Ward, specifically:
- Angel Court Tower, an award winning, BREEAM Excellent office and retail building which has delivered 30% more public realm space than its previous incarnation;
- 60 London Wall, an office and retail building of nearly 500,000 sq ft which is due for delivery in 2019;
- 1 Liverpool Street; an office and retail scheme by Aviva;
- Deutche Bank’s occupations at Winchester House and Pinners Hall will come to an end in 2021 when they move to their new headquarters building in Moorfields;
- 15 Austin Friars, which will have improved access;
- The closure of Bank junction to non-public transport vehicles, where the decision to keep the current measures or revert to normal traffic will be made in July 2018; and
- Disruption to road traffic from the replacement of long sections of Victorian gas mains.
Following the address from Mr Hayward, the Alderman invited questions from the floor. The first related to bicycle parking keeping pace with bicycle use. Mr Hayward responded that a review of cycling and the provision of bicycle parking would be considered within a recently commissioned Transport Strategy that would report in 2019.
The next question was more of an observation that the streets surrounding Angel Court were now wind tunnels. Mr Hayward noted that the effect on wind by high rise buildings was a problem and that the City of London Corporation was the only municipality to require the need for wind modelling both before and after new developments were constructed.
The final question related to air quality monitoring of streets adjoining Bank junction. Mr Hayward confirmed that the air quality was being assessed in the Bank junction distributor road network to see if the issue had been improved as opposed to just displaced.
With no more business before the Wardmote, Mr Bennett proposed a vote of thanks to the Alderman for presiding at the Wardmote. This was seconded by Mr Hayward and passed unanimously.
Mr Scott then proposed a vote of thanks to the Master and Worshipful Company of Drapers for the use of their Hall. This was seconded by Mr Nicholas Westgarth of The Worshipful Company of International Bankers and passed unanimously.
Finally, the Beadle closed the Wardmote in the usual manner.