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Blog back

After a few months of blogging holiday this blog is back.

Obviously the focus will change, we’re not anymore in electoral period, and thanks for that. There will be politics discussed though, and in case you were wondering I’m not anymore a member of any party and this because I don’t feel that there is one party left in Britain that reflects my opinions.

I still think that the Lib Dems are the less bad of the three mainstream parties but I can’t really find it in me to feel associated to creeps like George Osborne, Eric Pickles or Michael Gove.

If Nick Clegg will decide that he has a mandate to veto a few of  these people’s policies then I’ll reconsider.

This entry was posted on December 27, 2010 at 2:28 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

7 Responses to “Blog back”

  1. Darryl Says:
    December 27, 2010 at 4:50 pm

    Good to see you back!

  2. Clare Griffiths Says:
    December 27, 2010 at 11:53 pm

    Good to see you back.

  3. Max Says:
    December 28, 2010 at 2:37 am

    And you, cheers!

  4. Ben Says:
    January 11, 2011 at 6:33 pm

    Hi Max. I am interested in buying a house in Catford and the redevelopment of the area is a big pull factor for me. I have studied the council action plan for the redevelopment of the Catford central area. Has there been any concrete movement on this bar the purchase of the shopping mall by the council? Is anything going to go ahead? And if so, what is the probable time frame. Your insight in this regard is much appreciated. Regards. Ben

    • Max Says:
      January 11, 2011 at 7:51 pm

      Hi Ben, it’s all quite vague, we are years away from it being a reality and possibly years away from a plan being even negotiated with partners.
      I paste here the reply given to a question at Council about it on 29th November:

      The Mayor & Cabinet report of 14th July 2010 set out an initial regeneration delivery strategy and options for a planning approach for the first phase of a long term regeneration programme for Catford Town Centre, which addresses development in the Catford shopping centre and the Civic quarter of the Council’s Area Action Plan. Such a programme could potentially include:

      – the demolition of Milford Towers;
      – 1000 new homes;
      – a new Tesco anchor store;
      – a redevelopment of the rest of the shopping centre;
      – new community facilities & public services hub;
      – consolidation of public sector functions into a new office building;
      – demolition of the Town Hall and Laurence House;
      – a rerouting of the A205;
      – new pedestrianised areas and open spaces.

      Officers are currently negotiating heads of terms for the potential redevelopment of Tesco, which could constitute the first phase of the programme, creating value that could attract significant investment interest from the market and drive future phases of regeneration.
      Traditional financial models for regeneration programmes are changing in response to the current economic context, and the impact of this context has varied from place to place and from project to project because different types of partner and place have changed in different ways. For example, some private sector partners, such as major supermarkets, may still be able to develop speculatively despite current conditions. Housebuilders are likely to have reduced capability to commit major up front investment in regeneration enabling infrastructure. Market conditions such as these will have an impact on the financial model for the Catford programme and the level of financial contribution that may be required from the Council in future to see the programme progress. Not proceeding with regeneration proposals for the town centre would present risks in its own right, such as the potential lack of economic growth in the town centre in future.

      Viability and phasing for future regeneration programmes, and the nature and flexibility of the market conditions mentioned above cannot be predicted with any certainty until commercial arrangements are agreed. A full business case including detailed development appraisals and a viability appraisal for the regeneration programme as a whole will therefore be presented to Mayor & Cabinet in due course should commercial negotiations for phase 1 prove successful.

      As you can see they’re very cautiously avoiding to raise any hopes for it to happen anytime soon, they make reference to the fact that financing is very difficult to find but that supermarkets may be interested. Of course should a supermarket decide to finance it that could come with many string attached and the Streatham regeneration is a rather stark warning about can go wrong during negotiations with a supermarket and how long can that take to conclude.

      Anyway, should these works go on it would mean years of upheaval for major works, are you sure you want to move there to witness it?

  5. sunita Says:
    April 21, 2011 at 11:07 am

    i’ve just moved to the area and your right it is dangerous i have 4 children under the age off 4 years and fear for them when crossing the road. They do need to put some type of crossing for children and old people as people drive like lunatics, revving their engine up and down the road.

    i fear for my kids when they start school. Does their really need to be an accident before they do something about it…….

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