Last night I started reading this 313-page report from October 2019 (partially updated summer 2021) about condition of St Georges pool in Shadwell @going4golds & I agree this is one of the most disturbing reports we have ever read
Links & summary here cllrandrewwood.com/news/st-george… 1/
In retrospect, the leisure center should have been closed in Nov. 2019 as soon as Council got this report for remedial work
Not safe
Does not appear to have happened, some work done to keep pool open over the winter
We put users & staff at risk by not fixing these issues then 2/
There were endemic issues in the building like fire hazards & corrosion
There are so many screenshots I have of issues that I struggle to work out which ones to use
or to convey how bad some of the issues were
You need to skim the report (see link to a PDF copy with comments) 3/
"• Previous reports established that the concrete structure had defects requiring action which have generally not been acted upon.
• We consider that the structure has continued to deteriorate from previous reports."
They do suggest buildings can remain in use 4/
But in March 2020 the building was effectively abandoned and allowed to deteriorate even more
Algae grew inside
The pools should have been emptied but had not been by July 2021
I wonder whether that was done after they got this 2021 update report? 5/
There are 5 reports in total from different technical experts (they are all very good)
These are electrical
Note
"The selection of replacement luminaires and wiring
accessories have been identified as low-cost budget
products in general, lacking reliability and longevity" 6/
In August 2011 cabinet worked on the basis that St Georges had a minimum of 5 years more life, and some work done in 2012, 2014 and 2015 but very little after that except for these reports
Structural survey work also also undertaken in April 2017 & 2018 democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/documents/s232… 7/
So what happened in 2016 when 5 years were up?
We had lots of s106 & New Homes Bonus & first CIL arrived in 2016 to pay for extensive works but nothing happened except for survey work
Summary of building control system issues 8/
Here is a link to the original report with 5 sections towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Cons…
What was the Council doing from 2016 to 2021 about the future of St Georges as they clearly knew there were issues
Some problems identified in 2003 not fixed by 2021 @EastEndEnquirer@ELAdvertiser
9/
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This @TheEconomist article is very strange, odd & not really based on much evidence
It also repeats various myths without evidence, misses the big issues, and therefore comes to the wrong conclusions
A 🧵on its inaccuracies
a. no mention of leasehold or commonhold at all ! 1/
b. it correctly says these buildings are expensive which is true but then talks about land value in England as one main reason why tall towers in big cities are expensive
Economist article in black, my comments in red
The main reason why tall towers are expensive is 2/
because construction is v expensive
As evidence this agreement that Westferry Printworks could only deliver 21% affordable housing on a big site agreed by the developer, Tower Hamlets Council & the GLA
Construction costs £630 m
v
Land value £28m
v
Taxes (CIL & s106) = £49 m 3/
The issues are more extensive than @PlanningMag article states
Councillors who made the decision to reject the resident's Yes vote in favour of the business No vote
Incorrectly, used the wrong business turnout % to suggest a higher proportion of businesses voted than residents 1/
Proportionally more residents voted than businesses
Councillors were also not officially told that:
Some of the business votes were illegal (three people voted more than twice)
49.5% of all the business vote came from a single office building
Cllrs also not told that there was
2/
an active Police investigation underway
"amid suspicions of a “possible conspiracy to subvert the referendum”, allegation of multiple voting, and claims that some business owners had exerted “undue influence” to sway the vote against the council’s plan" standard.co.uk/news/london/po…
3/
Problems with Homes of Multiple Occupation (HMO) & why a man died due to Council inaction
A man died earlier this month in a flat fire, had the Council been more proactive and responsive he might still be alive but an attempt to get them to do so in January 2021 was rejected 1/
18 people, primarily students and delivery couriers from Bangladesh, lived in a 2-bedroom former Council flat at the time of the fire, 22 beds were seen in the property including in the kitchen (mainly bunk beds)
2/
The owner had bought the leasehold flat in 2005 but the freeholder was Tower Hamlets Council and the managing agent Tower Hamlets Homes, their arm's length management agency
Neighbours made complaints about number of people & leaks from the bathroom in late 2021 and 2022
3/
New independent private primary school in Canary Wharf planning application
CW Group has applied to build a new 9-storey (thin but tall) nursery and primary school in the middle of Wood Wharf
402 pupils (150 nursery pupils and 252 primary school pupils) and 80 FTE staff 1/
Summary here constructing-london.com/wood-wharf-sch…
This would be a fee-paying school separate from the Mulberry Primary state school already built opposite this proposed new school so there would be 2 schools on site
2/
It will be run by inspiredlearninggroup.co.uk/about-us/about… and would be the 3rd private school in the area including River House & Faraday
I assume CW Group are behind the idea of building a new private school as will generate a long run income and be popular with some of their new residents
3/
Local Plan consultation response - why the Local Plan needs to change
1st round of consultations on the new Local Plan ended on Wednesday - 2nd round of consultation should be later this year after they publish the draft policies
I wrote a 13 page response to it raising some 1/
of some of my issues with it & planning here in general
Fundamentally the objective of recent London and Local Plans has been to push most development in Tower Hamlets to Aldgate, Aberfeldy, Isle of Dogs including Blackwall & other parts of Poplar 2/
Development in most of the rest of Tower Hamlets is discouraged even when they have better transport links and better infrastructure than the growth areas listed above 3/
I went to the @ConHome Defence & Security Conference today
Several questions from audience about what will happen in Ukraine
All those who answered said, they don't know the outcome
That assumes Britain has a passive role
Britain could determine the outcome by helping Ukraine 1/
More western weapons would put Ukraine in a stronger position to win
(in the same way western support helped USSR defeat Nazi Germany) @BWallaceMP mentioned 250 vehicles sent by Britain
But Ukrainians crowdfunded to buy 101 ex-British Army armoured
vehicles themselves
(Ukrainians in UK find this harder to do as UK donation websites won't allow similar campaigns in the UK to buy 'weapons')
That we had 101 retired armoured vehicles incl. ambulances ready to go but were on the open market for sale suggests Britain not as
3/