Now many of my fellow local residents have noticed how we get frequented by sea gulls in the neighbourhood. They often pick away at the rubbish we put out on our streets in the morning and even attack other birds, as the photo shows quite clearly above. 

Some say its because we have plenty of fishmongers along Church St market who throw their fish cuttings out on the street. Which must make for easy catches for sea gulls flying over Paddington and Marylebone.  Whatever the explanation, it’s clear seagulls have adapted around us and become “city gulls” to all intents and purposes. Not unlike our foxes, who we increasingly find in the City. In our case, we have plenty around Marylebone Railway station. 

What clear to us that they have become a menace to all but it’s not clear who’s responsibility is their behaviour. Clearly not the dustman who clear up their mess afterwards along our street but maybe we need to start with our fishmongers along Church St market not throwing their cuttings out on the street. 

Normally in Paddington, in private developments and Mansion blocks we have disputes between leaseholders and their Management Committees over the level of service charges in their blocks for annual services and major repairs but this is the first time l have come across a dispute between the staff and the management agents of the blocks themselves.

On Tuesday morning as l cycled along Praed St, l come across a picket line over a dispute between cleaners and concierge staff and their management company at West End Quay organised by UVW which l hope the residents, leaseholders and neighbourhood take note.

Striking is always a last resort for staff as it involves a financial sacrifice but with a a complete breakdown of negotiations and deterioration of industrial relations, it is not surprising in this instance. The dispute covers a whole range of issues including inflation-linked pay; unconditional harmonisation of leave and sick pay; full withdrawal of performance related pay(PRP); cctv monitoring; disciplinary hearing reform and review of standard operational procedures. 

It makes me realise that even in disputes on Mansion blocks occupants with their management agents as we have plenty of them in W2 & W9, there will undoubtedly be a labour dispute in the background as well. And well done to United Voice of Workers, the new kids on the Union block for representing low paid, migrant and precarious workers. 

Lest we forget – 7th July bombings victims at my local tube station, the Edgware Rd, on the 20th anniversary. I can well remember how the victims who survived walking to St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington when l got there on the day. They hit Londoners hard after we had won the Olympic nomination to host the Olympics the following day – illustrating the ups and downs of being Londoners. 

Also as we commemorate the deaths of Londoners on 7/7 bombings, l for one can not forget Ken Livingstone response from Singapore at a critical time for London. It’s probably the most brilliant speech a Mayor of London will have to ever make and let’s hope there is never a need for someone to do so again.

Last week Climate Change Committee advisors tells us ​​​​​​​to make electricity cheaper for consumers, so who has the best solution for this? Well we have two titans of the energy sector in the UK fighting over this one. In one corner, we have Greg Jackson, CEO of Octopus arguing for zoning pricing. In the other corner, we have another British green energy industrialist, Dale Vince who is the owner of the electricity company Ecotricity advocating breaking the link between gas prices and renewable energy. 

Dale Vince, argues that high UK energy prices are due to the current market mechanism that links the price of all electricity, including that from renewables, to the global price of fossil gas. He advocates for “breaking the link” between gas prices and renewable energy, believing it would lower energy bills. Vince argues that the current UK electricity market mechanism sets the price of all electricity based on the most expensive source, which is often imported fossil gas. This means even when wind and solar are abundant and cheap, the price is still tied to gas, leading to higher bills. Vince proposes “breaking the link” by ensuring that renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, are priced separately from gas, allowing their cheaper prices to be reflected in consumer bills. By separating the pricing, Vince believes it would lower energy bills for consumers, make green energy more competitive, and help the UK achieve its net-zero targets.

Interestingly the House of Lords backs “zoning pricing” in a power market shake up whilst the CBI urges government to tackle energy costs as firms face £24 billion in extra costs and in particular the removal of policy costs (such as those related to net zero initiatives) from electricity bills, suggesting that these costs be funded through alternative mechanisms, such as general taxation.  So watch this critical battle, being played out over the summer.

While the Spending Review last week giveth with one hand, it taketh away with the other. With no funding for DLR and Bakerloo Line Extensions or the West London Orbital (remember when London’s top priority was Crossrail2 now of course Elizabeth line), that’s up to 150,000 fewer homes all three could have unlocked collectively. Surely any vague prospect of London getting close to the 88,000 new homes annually target died yesterday.

With at least a 4 year capital settlement  for TfL worth £2.2 billion between 2026-2030 will we now get the Bakerloo line carriages replaced? They were introduced in 1972 and now the oldest trains in daily passenger service anywhere in the UK. I went to school on them after “fares fair” initiative by the old GLC. 

There’s less certainty for other lines, though, with TfL saying only that the settlement will allow it to “progress discussions on new Bakerloo line trains”, though its separate announcement to investors does say the settlement will support “rolling stock upgrades” on the Bakerloo and Central lines.

But let’s be honest, this isn’t money for big, new shiny tube lines. It will hopefully finally replace 50-year-old worn out trains and antiquated signalling and prevent critical flyovers from collapsing in West Central. Also if the message is that London won’t be getting much capital monies for transport infrastructure then we need to pursue more devolution for the Mayor of London, to get on with these matters with new powers to raise finance. After all, the successful East Asia cities Mayor’s with world class transport infrastructure, certainly don’t have to go to their Central government for such works,  hand in cap!  Capturing the land value enhancement after transport infrastructure is built is the key to the matter. 

In the meantime, we need TfL to get on with getting rid of the grafitti. No other tube line has it internally, to the same extent!  It makes for an unpleasant tube trips particularly with in the heatwave……

Some of us are able to tell racists to FO (my preferred method) but most are not able to do so! So l think we need to address the issues of hate aimed at council staff and members and developers and local residents particularly after three instances l have come across in the WCC

At a recent reception held by the Lord Mayor of Westminster at City Hall parlour, we heard the hallowing tale of a local policeman who had converted to Islam off his own accord, suffered sustained abuse on social media. He is now a member of staff in the City of Westminster. 

We also have the planning system having to deal with sustained racial abuse on particular applications. Over the last few years, it has dealt with an applicant in the West End which involved predominately involved a hotel conversion into pods and a small community space which would accommodate Friday prays for Muslims in the West End. Trocadero, 13 Coventry Street, Piccadilly A significant number of objections were fueled by racist and Islamophobic sentiments, with some comments explicitly targeting the Muslim community. Finally we also hear that members of the Council have been insulted over their faith along the Edgware Road. 

The developments in Paddington Basin are almost all complete after the removal of the waste facilities along this arm of the canals in Paddington, except for no 1 Merchant Square,W2 – One may ask how come and what is there to do about it?

This was another office tower part of Merchant Square development proposals along Paddington Basin. It was originally 16 storey tower providing 173,000 square feet of Grade A office space and 3,500 square feet of retail space otherwise known as “Cucumber”. The site has been lying empty for many years and more recently was given permission ( April 2023)  for residential use composing of 426 units in two Towers, one 42 floor Tower “cucumber” and an adjacent 21 floor block of flats as well – a planning application that was hanging around since 2019. Yet still no action on the ground even though a Section 21 Agreement is in place with the Council. 

Such development are also part of the national discussion of how to get built the housing that already has planning consent but has yet to be “built out” and and occupied with new residents. The Planning and infrastructure reforms discourse, we have the government issuing a Planning Reform Working Paper entitled “Speeding up Build Out” where the proposal is that a new “housebuilding timeframes must be set before planning permission is granted and there will be “Delayed Homes Penalty’ for” those who consistently fail to build out consented sites and those who secure planning permissions simply to trade speculatively

Another suggestion comes from some Economists is a fiscal proposal, Land Value Taxation (LVT). Traditional property taxes assess the value of the land and any buildings or improvements on the property. On the other hand, a land value tax only assesses the value of the land itself, disregarding the value of structures. This distinction makes land value taxes more fair, especially in areas where land tends to appreciate slower than buildings.

By separating the land value from the building value, a land value tax also reduces the impact of market swings. This separation helps prevent sharp fluctuations in property taxes that can occur when the value of buildings changes quickly, which is clearly what is happening right now with 1 Merchant Square. 

A land value tax is an alternative to traditional property taxes that could provide a more stable and fair way to assess property taxes. By taxing only the land value, rather than the land and buildings together, LVT encourages better land use and reduces the economic inefficiencies caused by fluctuating property values. While not yet widely adopted, land value taxes hold promise for communities seeking a more equitable and predictable tax system.

Such an annual taxation would thus be a disincentive for leaving land and properties empty, helping to push developers to get on site with their proposals once planning consent has been given granted. At present in the UK, no property tax is applicable when sites and properties lie empty and thus grossly inefficient, as we see with 1 Merchant Square clearly!  

So as we have this discussion on what measures are undertaken to get built the housing that already has planning consent lets not forget LVT. Another reason to have it really!  

Having voted for the formation of the previous two MDC at City Hall – Old Oak & Park Royal Development Corporation (OOPR) and London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), when l was an Assembly Member, l looked with interest at the proposal for the one along Oxford Street to assist the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street. 

Looking at the map, it is strictly only the row of properties along Oxford St and the block there exist within between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road. So much smaller geographical and in scope to the other two MDCs already in existence, one of which dealt with the legacy of the Olympic Games around the main site in 4 boroughs and the other over 3 boroughs an industrial Estate that had been long in decline with much critical transport infrastructure.  

Quite simply the transfer of Oxford St to TfL, so as to become part of its red routes should be enough for these efforts by the Mayor. It is something he’ll have to do anyway along with the planning consent. Quite honestly Oxford St should have been transferred at the outset of the creation of the GLA and its bodies like TfL within their designated red routes.  So l would welcome the designation of Oxford St as a “GLA road” which should have been done many years ago when the GLA and TfL was set-up almost 25 years ago.

Doing it the MDC way, risks antagonising WCC by taking away their planning powers.The result being it will take a lot longer to accomplice the actual pedestrianisation and make the legal process of the transfer of Oxford St to TfL a lot longer l fear.  Furthermore, if it was refused planning by the Westminster City Council, it can surely be called in by the Mayor anyway! 

In the meantime, if TfL want to be seen to transform the West End it could start with the removing of rickshaws (pedicabs) now that it has the powers to do so, in the West End and putting more provision of public toilets in neighbourhoods like Soho which adjoin along Oxford Street.