MINUTES OF THE WARDMOTE
HELD AT NOON ON WEDNESDAY 20th MARCH 2024
AT THE DUTCH CHURCH, AUSTIN FRIARS, LONDON EC2
1. The Beadle opened the Wardmote in the usual manner.
2. The Deputy welcomed all to the Wardmote and gave a brief introductory address informing the Wardmote that the Alderman, as Lord Mayor, was visiting China and therefore he was chairing the meeting as Deputy. He welcomed the Dedicated Ward Officer, PC Jack Bose from the City of London Police, and noted that his fellow Common Councillors were running late owing to back-to-back meetings and would arrive shortly.
3. Next the Deputy affirmed that the Alderman had instructed that Mr Christopher Hayward be appointed as Ward Deputy for the year ensuing.
4. The Deputy also affirmed that the Alderman had instructed that Mr Adrian Smallwood be appointed as Honorary Ward Clerk for the year ensuing.
5. The Deputy addressed the Wardmote as the first of the addresses by Common Councilmen. He first explained that his role within the City of London Corporation as Chairman of the Policy Committee meant that he was the de facto political leader of the Corporation’s 125 Common Councillors and Aldermen, and of is approximate 100 committees. He pointed out that his term as Policy Chairman was for five years, and that one of his main roles is to speak for the financial sector to all national politicians. He further noted that despite the City of London only having approximately 9,000 residents, it accommodated about 640,000 office workers; a figure that has risen since the COVID pandemic. As such there was still good demand for quality Class A offices.
6. The Deputy then invited the other Common Councilmen to address the Wardmote.
Mr Manchester was first to speak, where he initially apologised for his late arrival. He began his address by saying that he wanted to focus on the competitiveness of the City of London. Firstly, he identified challenges from Brexit, the COVID pandemic, reduced footfall, the reduction of many workers time in the office to just Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays, all which was noticed most keenly by the leisure and food & beverage sectors. Secondly, he mentioned planning decisions where he noted the need to strike a balance between the demands of residents and commercial entities as a hub of the financial industry. He was hopeful that a new hotel will be opening soon. Thirdly, he spoke about sustainability in the built environment, identifying the benefits of renewing out of date buildings which are no longer good on their environmental performance, and noting that future designs should be for a longer term than the current 20-30 year design life. He then moved on a other topics, that he has encountered in his role on committees, which had included dealing with enforcement issues, particularly and incidence of a café being misused as a drinking den. He also focussed on Bank junction, where there was a desire to convert it into a more pleasant public realm space. He recognised the debate about the re-introduction of black cabs being able to drive through the junction again.
Mr Bakth was second to speak where he too apologised for his lateness. His initial focus was on the local matter of the relocation of Deutsche Bank and what would be happening to its HQ at Winchester House given that it would be vacated within a couple of months, acknowledging the debate around whether it would remain or be replaced. He mused on whether it should raise its height through additional floors. He then went on to the topic of how companies are attracting their staff back into offices and made a general request to the Wardmote for feedback. Finally, he identified homelessness and rough sleeping as an issue that he wants to tackle.
7. Following the addresses, the Deputy invited the Wardmote to ask any questions.
The first question was from Mr Lucas of Blackrock (12 Throgmorton Avenue) as to how could food & beverage outlets be encouraged to open during weekends and bank holidays. The Deputy recognised the change in footfall since the COVID pandemic as a cause and responded to the point by noting the policy push of ‘Destination City’ relating to events, tourism and for residents. He noted that more people are coming in at weekends and a better night time economy is evolving, drawing on the fact that Liverpool Street Station is now the busiest in London but needs reimagining, especially are there are issues from hen and stag parties arriving en masse from Essex. Mr Manchester identified a supply and demand approach where ‘Destination City’ is the supply. A broader offer from the Barbican and a new Museum of London will make the City a world class destination, on par with the Titanic Quarter in Belfast. However, this will all happen over a period of time.
The second contribution from the floor was from Mr Mumford, Clerk to The Worshipful Company of Plumbers (Carpenters’ Hall, 1 Throgmorton Avenue), who expressed support for the restoration of taxi movements across Bank junction, as he believes that current arrangements are detrimental, especially during evenings. Mr Manchester noted that restrictions actually end at 7pm, but that arrangement hadn’t worked as intended. The Deputy stated that the current restriction came in 7 years ago whilst he was Chair of the Planning Committee. The restriction was brought in owing to three fatalities at Bank junction where the Coroner said that the Corporation and Mr Hayward would be culpable if there was a further fatality. He noted that times have changed and that the situation post-COVID has shown less traffic so that as things have evolved, he could support a partial reintroduction. However, such a decision needs to be data driven and that it was now being collected and ready to consider in a couple of months. Finally, he identified that air quality had improved and that he didn’t want to loose what had been won.
Mr Davis (not a registered elector for the Ward) followed up with the third question as to whether Uber minicabs would be included in any change, where the Deputy responded that there was a risk of too many exceptions to the rule arising, but if they were licenced then quite possibly they could be included.
The fourth question came from Mr May, resident (7 Lothbury), relating to the bandwidth of domestic broadband services in the City. The Deputy recognised the point and said that he would revert to Mr May when he knew more on the topic.
Mr Manchester identified that the issue had been raised at the previous Wardmote, and that it was considered in the same way as poor broadband services to rural communities. Given the nature of the issue, it may be that lobbying is the best way to address it.
The fifth contribution from the floor came from the Dedicated Ward Officer (PC Jack Bose) where he spoke about squatters and how to prevent them getting into a vacated Deutsche Bank building.
Next Mr Adams, the Master of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers (Carpenters’ Hall, 1 Throgmorton Avue), asked the sixth question about the City of London achieving ‘net zero’ carbon emissions. The Deputy answered but noting that the Corporation was the first local authority to have a fully funded (£85m) plan to achieve ‘net zero’, and also commended to the Wardmote the Livery Climate Action Group.
Finally, Prestel of Deutsche Bank (1 Great Winchester Street) who asked two questions. The first related to the development of Liverpool Street Station. The Deputy responded by noting that the scheme was still under consideration and so he could comment fully. However, the Corporation was looking closely at heritage and massing given that the current proposals show large massing and that balance is needed between the two factors given the developer’s natural wish to maximise what is built.
The second question from Mr Prestel related to ‘Destination City’ where he first noted the comments made earlier regarding the Barbican and Museum of London but asked whether art collections held by banks could be made more available for public viewing. Mr Manchester responded by saying that a lot more could be done to advertise existing availability and so queried how much more needed to be made available. He suggested that lending collections could be a means to achieve the end. Mr Bakth rounded off by noting that Deutsche Bank used to show its collection to the public.
There were no further questions from the floor.
8. Following the questions from the floor, the Deputy then answered pre-submitted questions.
Two such questions had been submitted by Mr Stringer-Lamarre of Medical Prime Ltd (65 London Wall): What can the members do more to promote awareness of peri/menopause (symptoms, treatment and support) and women’s health in general among businesses within the ward and the City of London? The Deputy responded that the question had been put to the Health and Wellbeing Board who would provide an answer. Mr Manchester also noted that Blackrock is trying to overcome any stigma attached to the menopause.
What do members currently do to assist small companies to raise their profile within the ward and the City of London and what plans do they have to support small companies in the coming year? The Deputy answered by noting that the 98% of businesses within the City of London were small and medium sized enterprises (‘SMEs’) and that he has appointed a policy lead for small businesses and a strategy is to be published in a couple of months
9. With no more business before the Wardmote, Mr Manchester proposed a vote of thanks to the Deputy for presiding at the Wardmote. This was seconded by Mr May and passed unanimously.
10. Mr Bakth then proposed a vote of thanks to the Dutch Church for the use of their Hall. This was also seconded by Mr May and passed unanimously.
11. Finally, the Beadle closed the Wardmote in the usual manner.