View this email in your browser

Super vaxxers

Q.What happens when you combine four GP practices and over 350                                     volunteers?

A. An extremely slick operation which can vaccinate 1,200 people in a day. So slick in fact that at one point in January it had the second-best performance of any GP vaccine hub anywhere in London. The Barnes and Sheen vaccine hub, based in the Essex House surgery by Barnes Pond, has sailed through its targets. By the end of last week over 90% of local over 80s had been vaccinated and now the hub is working through the list of patients aged over 70 as well as medically vulnerable patients. So keen are the staff not to waste any vaccines that even a few patients under 70 have had shots.

 

The hub isn’t open daily and can only vaccinate when supplies are sufficient, but when it is open it's a sight to behold. It is a testament to the power of teamwork and community spirit. The GP surgeries involved* believe it has worked so well because they had already been co-operating as a primary care network well before a bat ever met a pangolin. They have also been buoyed by the huge community voluntary response.

 

Local Town Centre Manager Emma Robinson, who worked with the hub to recruit volunteers, was initially overwhelmed with the number of people who volunteered. “Logistically just getting back to hundreds of people who were offering their help on different days and different times was daunting” she says. “As the hub has now been operating for nearly two months we hope we’ve got our volunteer set-up running like a smooth machine. We have a team of volunteer coordinators who set up rotas for each session, breaking the task down into chunks and working with an amazing bunch of people who do everything from traffic marshalling to checking in and checking out. The morale is fantastic and every single person working in the hub has a sense that, no matter how small or large their contribution is, they are making a huge difference.”

 

The practice manager at the Essex House surgery, Alison MacLeod, says she has been in awe at how people have come together to help out. “From the doctors and practice staff at all four surgeries who are working incredibly hard, to retired medics who have come back to help out, to the amazing team of volunteers, to local groups and charities who have lent time and equipment.

 

“We’ve had chairs and wheelchairs lent to us by Age Concern, a local rowing club and the scouts helped us out with marquees in the car park, people have lent us heaters to help warm elderly patients who have had to queue in the cold” she says. “We’ve also been bowled over by the wonderfully positive approach of both volunteers and patients.

 

“By necessity ours is a slightly military operation, we have to get people in and out quickly and keep them safe. We can’t spend as much time as we would like with patients but the volunteers keep the atmosphere happy and upbeat. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without them and the extra things they have done such as driving our nurses to home visits have been amazing.

 

“I always knew Barnes was a wonderful community but the experience of working in the hub has made me realise what an amazing place it is.”

 

*Essex House, Glebe Road, Sheen Lane & The Richmond Group

Covid in Richmond

There’s good news on our local Covid case figures with the graph above  showing a rapid decline in new cases. Soberingly, however, Richmond’s current case rate per hundred thousand (139.4) is still 9 times higher than it was last August. The figures show we are nowhere near being out of the woods just yet.

 

Sadly, there have been more deaths, and for many people it has been heart-breaking to discover that Kelly who worked as a marshal at the Barnes Farmer’s market has died of Covid. The announcement of her death on the market’s Instagram account said "She was always full of life and had a ready smile to greet all our lovely customers. She was also passionate about our market and all that goes with it. She will be very much missed."

 

In her memory, and in celebration of Kelly’s love of dogs, traders and customers at the market raised £600 for Battersea Dogs and Cat Home.

Writing is on the wall for anti-vax vandals

While the teams at our vaccine hub have been working extraordinarily long days other less industrious souls have been plastering shop fronts and walls across Barnes with anti vax graffiti – even the walls of Essex House Surgery itself have been daubed. One of the practice staff has said “It’s just so demoralising to see this when we’ve been working so hard to protect the most vulnerable in our neighbourhood.”

Much of the graffiti was quickly removed by shop owners and by council workmen. You can report graffiti to the council on its website www.richmond.gov.uk.

Where have all the flowers gone?

Like many local businesses, Sun Inn Flowers, our much-loved flower stall by the pond, has had a tough time of late. Just days before Valentine's weekend, any florist's busiest time of the year, the stall was closed down by Richmond Council officials due the the current lockdown. Despite garden centres being allowed to open, other flower stalls in other London boroughs remaining open, outdoor markets allowed to continue, and supermarkets allowed to sell flowers and plants, flower shops are not considered essential businesses.

 

"It was devastating, but after we were shut down, we had literally hundreds of messages of love and support from our amazing customers and wonderful community - I can't tell you how much it meant" explains owner Jane Williams. 

 

"So, we wanted to do something to say thank you, and show some love back to our community. If we can't be in our usual spot with our beautiful flowers cheering everybody up, we thought we would try and create something else for everyone to enjoy" 

 

You might remember that last summer, Jane and her friend Edward Fisher wrapped the stall in rainbow coloured ribbons for the NHS. 

 

"This time we've created something for everyone - for Barnes, for the community, for everyone to enjoy. We want it to be a symbol of love and optimism, and of overcoming adversity, which is something we are all facing at the moment" 

 

Despite being closed down, Apparent Properties are letting them use their large indoor space to prepare Valentine's flowers and local designers Farrah & Pearce, are now helping Jane by quickly creating a website so that she can offer a click and collect service. 

They will also be taking pre-paid telephone orders on 07989 785 075 to allow a beautiful bouquet to be delivered in SW13 or collected from the stall.
You can follow Sun Inn Flowers on Instagram for more details @sunninnflowers

Phantom sign swipers revealed 

When campaigners protesting about the closure of Hammersmith covered Barnes in posters and signs last weekend they knew that there was a possibility that the signs they put up on public byways might be taken down, as prior permission hadn't been sought from Richmond Council.

 

However, they didn't expect signs to be removed so quickly, and that even signs placed on private property would be taken away.

 

Bridge protestors had photographic evidence of the signs being removed from Castelnau by contractors and a local resident had questioned the men who had removed them. The contractors are reported to have said they had been instructed to remove them by 'a man from the council'.

 

The Bugle contacted Richmond Council who issued a categorical denial that any signs were removed under their instruction.

 

So who had removed the signs so efficiently? The answer (for some of the removed signs), surprisingly, is contractors working for Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

 

All became clear yesterday afternoon when Richmond Council's leader Gareth Roberts replied to a  tweet by bridge campaigner Michelle Coulter.

 

Councillor Roberts said "Hammersmith have a zero tolerance approach to unauthorised fly-posting & their contractor removed them on their side - however the contractor got a bit overzealous & continued removal on our side of the river."

 

The campaign group Hammersmith Bridge SOS says “We want to get out the message that people’s lives are being hugely blighted by the lack of movement on the bridge by politicians both in Hammersmith and Westminster. To have signs placed on private property summarily removed is unlawful. We are now crowdfunding via HammersmithBridgeSoS.co.uk  for money to pay for signs that can be placed on private properties and sincerely hope that these will be left in place."

 

STOP PRESS - Just as we were about to send out the Bugle we heard that local campaign groups are now working with Richmond Council to find ways to display their signs across Barnes and the vicinity.

Bridge closure takes its toll

One of the key causes of stress and anxiety is lack of control; when the ability to solve a problem that is hampering your life is beyond your grasp. This is just what is happening to everybody whose lives have been affected by Hammersmith Bridge’s closure, and sums up the plight of people who can only sit by impotently while politicians disagree about funding and engineering reports.

The scale of anxiety caused by the bridge closure is now well and truly apparent thanks to a survey carried out by the Hammersmith Bridge SOS campaign group and the Barnes Community Association. Over 230 people have responded to the survey so far and 88% say the closure has had an adverse effect on their mental health.

Comments by participants have come from all ages, with the elderly and those with health conditions feeling particularly impacted. Many older residents of North Barnes with support networks across the river have been hugely upset by the need to change GPs and report being very anxious about their long journeys to hospital appointments.

Others finding things hard are unemployed people who have had to turn down jobs as a result of the difficulty of being able to travel to them. Parents with young children have borne the brunt of the closure and although now, in the midst of lockdown, there is respite from the school run many are now feeling anxious about the return to school on March 8.

None shall pass

Hopes of Hammersmith Bridge opening to pedestrians by the summer have been scuppered

W e somehow doubt that the meetings of the Hammersmith Bridge Task Force resemble those of the now notorious Handforth Parish Council. After all, the participants are mostly experienced politicians for whom the art of polite disagreement is second nature. However, the remit of the Task Force (knocking heads together, according to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps) isn’t necessarily being achieved quite yet. Over the four months since it was assembled the fault lines between the two key players, Hammersmith & Fulham Council and the Government don’t yet appear to be narrowing and the prospect of the bridge being permanently repaired in six years is receding further. Here’s the Bugle’s round up of what’s happened with the bridge saga this month. Spoiler Alert: don’t hold your breath for too much good news.

Hammersmith Council now says the bridge will not be reopened to pedestrians until a start date is in place for remedial work.

L ast month we shared the news of two reports into the bridge commissioned by the Department of Transport. The reports, from engineering firm Aecom and cast iron expert Professor Norman Fleck, had a more upbeat assessment of the bridges’ capacity to let pedestrians and cyclists cross safely than the conclusions drawn by the consultant engineers working for Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

 

The decision by the DfT to release the Fleck and Aecom reports to the press before Hammersmith Council had been given the chance to review them fully didn’t go down well to say the least. 

 

At the time Hammersmith Council leader Stephen Cowan was quoted as saying “It's fair to say that a number of Taskforce members questioned the Government Taskforce's Chair, Baroness Vere, about the professionalism of sending papers so late while spinning the story to the media well beforehand.”

 

Now that Hammersmith & Fulham Council and its consulting engineers have had a chance to review the Fleck and Aecom reports the result is a 16-page document including a five-point strategy outlining what needs to happen before the bridge can be re-opened to pedestrians and cyclists.

 

The document compiled by the Board for the Case for the Continued Safe Operation (CCSO*) of the Bridge has refuted the suggestion that the decision to close the bridge made last August was ‘conservative’ and called into question Professor Fleck’s assertion that the bridge could be “re-opened quickly and cheaply within months”. It concluded that “the public cannot be allowed to use the bridge until it is repaired because it has proved to be unstable and still contains unknowable features”.

 

And here’s the stinger; it also says “Without a funded plan for repair, even the limited current use must cease. It is not acceptable in managing safety risk to rely upon interim measures indefinitely.”

 

The five-point strategy included in the document states:

1.	All three remaining pedestals, not just the North East pedestal, must be inspected as fully as possible
2.	The temperature control monitoring system must be shown to be effective over a full range of ambient temperatures
3.	The engineers’ report into the North East pedestal must be subjected to an independent “Category 3” check.
4.	Failure to set a date for remedial works must mean continued closure of the bridge.
5.	Indefinite use of temporary measures is not acceptable.

This seems to indicate that even if inspections of the bridge’s remaining pedestals raise no further concerns the bridge can’t be re-opened to pedestrians until the temperature control monitoring system has been tested from the depths of winter to the warmest days of summer. And, even once that has been done, re-opening could only be countenanced if a funding deal for bridge stabilisation (enabling a start date for works to be set) was in place.

 

Speaking of which, money, as much as fractured cast iron, seems to be the source of the bridge’s problems, see our update below on the funding situation.

*The CCSO is made up of engineers from various firms providing consulting services to the council – Mott McDonald, WSP and Xanta as well as representatives from the council itself.

There are, as yet, no signs of a funding proposal from Hammersmith & Fulham

As we have reported repeatedly over recent months, the government has said it won’t contribute funds towards the repair of the bridge without having a commitment in place for a contribution from Hammersmith and Fulham Council. The council, on the other hand, has been steadfast in its assertion that it does not has access to funds that would enable it to make a contribution. 

 

The resulting stalemate is clear for all to see. Last month the Council revealed that the government was requesting a £64 million contribution. So far, there has been no official news of a counterproposal from Hammersmith and Fulham, and the horse trading that the government might be expecting to ensue from its £64 million demand has yet to begin. 

The most obvious drawback of all these money wrangles is that the proposed six-year repair time-frame can’t begin until funding is in place. And now, as reported above, the CCSO board for the bridge is recommending that the bridge cannot be opened to pedestrians until a start date is confirmed for stabilisation works. Obviously, such a start date would be contingent on funding.

Reading between the lines of Task Force reports* it does seem as though the council might be working on some sort of funding proposal but there are no indications of when it will be published.

 

*"DfT awaits further detail from LBHF on the financial case"(February 4 report)

A feasibility study for the double decker temporary bridge-within-a-bridge proposal has been commissioned by Hammersmith and Fulham Council

The radical Foster & Partners designed proposal, pulled like a rabbit out of the hat by council leader Stephen Cowan in November, now seems to be the preferred option for all parties for a temporary solution to getting cars and people across the bridge while repair work is being carried out on the Victorian structure.

The team behind the design say it could take less than a year to build and allow much of the work on the existing bridge to be carried out off site potentially speeding up the overall repair period.

However, before the double decker bridge plans can even be put out to tender a feasibility study needs to be carried out and this month it was announced that Hammersmith & Fulham Council were stumping up the funding  (thought to be £200k) for such a study.

Back-of-an-envelope calculations would therefore point to 2022 being the earliest date for completion of the temporary bridge, although that of course assumes some sort of funding package will have been agreed between the government and Hammersmith & Fulham Council this year. It also assumes that the construction of the temporary bridge won’t be held up by legal and planning challenges from residents of Castelnau and of flats on the other side of the bridge who would find large car-bearing ramps appearing outside their properties.

When will there be a ferry tale ending?

So, we won’t be walking across the bridge anytime soon and the temporary bridge solution is as yet without funding and still being scoped out. This means the only game in town is a ferry crossing.

 

The good news is that government funding for a ferry procurement process is in place and a number of people are working extremely hard to make a ferry happen. The not so good news is that it seems possible that the ferry will not be operational until the latter half of June.

 

TfL says it is "procuring the ferry service as quickly as possible while ensuring safety is of paramount importance for the construction and operation."

 

The shortlisted ferry contractors will be announced in mid-February. The winning operator will be announced in mid-March and should have their planning permission proposals in place by the start of April.

 

At this point, according to bridge campaign groups, the winning firm will need to seek consents and approvals with the Environment Agency and the Marine Management Organisation. Local campaigners estimate this will take 12 to 13 weeks leading to a prediction of a late June start date. 

 

Running in parallel to all this is the provision of infrastructure (pontoons/boarding areas etc) on both sides of the river, and it will need a fair wind for infrastructure to be in place by the time the winning contractor has all the necessary permissions to operate.

 

TfL has confirmed that it expects the ferry to operate between 6am and 10pm on weekdays with a minimum capacity of 800 passengers per hour at peak times.

 

David Rowe, TfL’s Head of Major Projects Sponsorship, said: “We know that the closure of Hammersmith Bridge has caused upheaval in the lives of residents and disconnected communities, and we are working at pace to ensure a ferry is available to get people across the river as soon as possible... The exact timing for when the new service will be operational will depend on the winning bidder’s programme."

 

Southside Ferry Terminal plans are now available online for public comment.

 

As we have previously reported, a ‘white knight’ local businessman Jamie Waller has stepped in to offer the use of Harrod’s Wharf on the south side as a ferry terminal.

 

His aim has been to provide the space for a ferry operation as long as it is needed and then ultimately, once the bridge is repaired, he has plans to use the Harrods Wharf space as a permanent community asset.

 

While the bridge saga has been unfolding he has spent £150,000 on working with architects and consultants and has shared the potential plans with Richmond Council’s planning department three times dealing with push backs at each stage. 

 

Along the way, hopes that the architect-designed buildings (above) could remain at the end of the ferry’s life and then be repurposed, have receded. Mr Waller has revealed that he has acceded to Richmond’s requests that the planning permission should only be for a temporary period. He has also agreed with TfL that any contract with them or the winning ferry contractors for use of the site should be for a period of five to six years.

 

Additionally, he will have to negotiate with the winning contractor for the costs he has incurred so far to be included in their overall costs of running the service in order to recoup the considerable amounts of money he has spent on the project.

 

He says “I have children that need to cross the river and I understand the need for people in Barnes to commute across once the Covid crisis has receded. For this reason, I’ve always offered the wharf and the land around it (which I also own) at no commercial benefit to me for an emergency period of 18 months. In fact Richmond are already getting the benefits of my land as I have recently allowed them to install public lighting along the Thames path and, again, have done this for free. Post that period if the ferry  is still required they will need to contribute towards some form of rent. Let's hope that the ferry is dismantled by then and we have public access over the bridge. However, it has been a time-consuming slog to try to get this project off the ground and the back and forth with planners hasn’t been easy to say the least. It’s also disappointing to see that the great structures we have designed will probably have to come down. It seems such a waste of money and resources. I have handed a ferry terminal solution to the people of Barnes and to Richmond Council on a plate and it’s been immensely frustrating to have had to battle through so much to get things approved, but I remain committed to providing the community with safe access to a ferry to cross the Thames."

 

The timeline for ferry implementation should be clearer by the end of next month by which time the Bugle hopes to provide more definitive news.

 

The south side ferry terminal planning documents have now been validated and are available online for comment at the Richmond Council planning portal. Mr Waller is hoping that they will receive support from the Barnes community.

Olympic gets Arts Council grant

PIcture: Andrew Wilson

The Olympic Studios in Barnes is one of our most loved local businesses but it’s also one that has taken a big hit as a result of the Covid crisis. It’s a relief therefore to hear that the British Film Institute has awarded the cinema £472,145 in funding from the Government’s Culture recovery fund, helping the cinema to weather the Covid storm and leading to the hope of re-opening when the time is right.

BCA's laptop appeal

Not every child in Barnes and Mortlake learning from home has access to a laptop or tablet. People sometimes are not aware that, although Barnes is an affluent area, there are pockets of urban deprivation, where children who are already falling behind in their education because of school closures are at risk of being totally left behind because they have no access to technology.

At the same time, many of us have unused laptops and tablets lying around our houses. The only issue is how to get these devices in the right hands. 

That’s where the BCA stepped in last month with a donation scheme put together by BCA Trustee Matthew Purser.

Having spoken to charities elsewhere in London he knew that what was needed was a donation hub, a coordinator to work with local schools and technically adept volunteers to completely wipe the contents of donated items (the technical term for this is ‘nuking’ apparently).

So, he made arrangements for the BCA offices at Rose House to be a drop-off point, assembled a four-person tech team (including his very technically adept 13-year-old son) and put out a call to BCA members. He was hoping to get around 30 donations but now the BCA has received over 100 and counting. Local people in Barnes have been hugely generous and the appeal has even received a donation of brand-new laptops from a well-known online retailer.

The response from schools has been overwhelming with teachers saying “That is genuinely incredible! Thank you so much for such a fantastic contribution to our school, our wonderful children will be delighted.” and “I have to say, we feel very privileged to be part of such an awesome community - Barnes really is a fabulous place!”

You can still donate any unused laptops and tablets to the BCA and they will go both to local schools or via the BCA’s links with other charities to other pockets of urban deprivation across London.

Click here to see the relevant information on the BCA’s website. 

End of the road for Homebase Development objections

Richmond Council has expressed extreme disappointment that the Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick, has decided not to ‘call in’ the Planning Application for the redevelopment of the Homebase site on Manor Road, Richmond. 
 
Richmond Council’s Planning Committee refused the original application, a mixed-use development including 385 homes in a four to nine storey redevelopment on the Manor Road site, in July 2019.  
 
The planning committee said the scheme failed to deliver the maximum reasonable amount of affordable homes and described the design and scale as “visually intrusive, dominant and overwhelming” and expressed concern about the quality of the proposed accommodation and the impact on surrounding properties. 
 
In July last year, Sadiq Khan used his powers as London Mayor to become the local planning authority for the application - taking it over from the Council. The scheme was subsequently changed to make some of the apartment blocks even higher and to increase the number of residential units to 453. 
 
After a Public Hearing in October 2020, the Mayor granted permission for the revised scheme leaving an appeal to Robert Jenrick the only avenue left for those who opposed the scheme. Local MP Sarah Olney wrote to Mr Jenrick in September 2020 requesting he call in the application and the Government take over the role of planning authority from the Mayor on the grounds that the proposal was of regional significance. However last month the Secretary of State confirmed that he was going to let the Mayor’s approval of the scheme stand, leaving the Council and many local residents hugely disappointed.
 
Cllr Julia Neden-Watts, Chair of the Environment, Sustainability, Culture and Sport Committee for Richmond Council said: 
 
“This decision has given the Greater London Authority the power to approve the redevelopment plans, which are now even more overbearing that the original application turned down by Richmond’s Planning Committee.  
 
“In this case, contrary to the Government’s commitment to giving more power to local Councils to make their own decisions, this decision is being made by the Mayor of London and against what this Council would have wanted in refusing the original application.”

A Three-D vision for Mortlake

T he 3D visualisations above show just how much of an impact the proposed new Mortlake Brewery development will have on the riverscape. The Mortlake Brewery Community Group which is campaigning against the current developer’s proposals has commissioned two views one of which shows how the multi-storey plans which are currently under review by the Mayor’s office will look in situ. The other shows in contrast an alternative community plan put forward by the group.

Campaigners say that not only will the size of the development be incongruous in comparison with surrounding buildings but that the arrival of so many new dwellings will put unfeasible demands on local infrastructure, from everything to road and rail transport to GP provision. 

A public consultation which was due to take place last year was put on hold after the campaigners held a meeting with the Mayor and the GLA planning team to explain the extent of concerns in the local community. 

In response to the postponement of the consultation process the developer has now submitted notes on their own modelling of transport impacts and highway mitigation plans but it seems there has been no change to the proposed height of the buildings or number of dwellings. 

The consultation period has now been extended to March 8 and the Mayor of London will consider the planning application at a public representation hearing which is likely to be held online. No date has yet been released for this meeting.
You can read more about the developers notes and proposals on the GLA's website 
 and email your comments and concerns to theformerstagbrewery@london.gov.uk.

#Listen to locals

G rowing concern about how a 'top-down' planning process is leaving the concerns of local groups unheard has led to the formation of the #Listentolocals campaign.

The Mortlake Brewery Community Group is just one member of the new movement in which activist groups fighting planning battles across London have joined together to share expertise and they hope amplify their individual voices.

They are campaigning for active local representation in: 

•	GLA policy and planning decisions
•	Local Authority planning decisions
•	Transport planning decisions
•	Infrastructure task force recommendations

 

Their initial objective is to get localism and placemaking on the agenda for the forthcoming mayoral and GLA elections. You can find out more on their website.

Our urban village gets the

Country Life treatment

The unique character of Barnes, not to mention the role it has played in British history, has been celebrated in a wonderfully detailed profile in Country Life. The article which reads like a litany of Barnes’ greatest hits covers everything from our wonderful open spaces to Barnes’s contribution to the history of music, literature and association football. It’s well worth a read and will make you proud to be a Barnesian. Click here to find out more .

 

Copyright © 2020 barnesvillagebugle.co.uk  All Rights Reserved.

 

The Bugle is a member of the IMPRESS regulation scheme. To find out more go to our website.

 

If you want to unsubscribe from the Bugle click here.