The document City Hall doesn't want you to read
Plus: An exclusive story about what's going on at the mega club venue Drumsheds, and a flat in Kate Bush's old house.
Since our launch three months ago, London Centric has done some things that grabbed attention, such as documenting the epidemic of bike theft in London or investigating the spread of Harry Potter shops in the West End. (We are continuing to receive legal letters relating to that piece, so if you enjoyed it and wish to support our journalism, please do consider signing up as a paying member.)
Another aspect of our work is doing the type of unsexy public interest reporting that holds our city’s politicians to account. The sort of story that doesn’t go viral and could never be described as clickbait. Journalism that involves trawling through official documents and not always finding a story.
The other day I was looking through some paperwork released by City Hall regarding the mayor’s flagship development fund. It owns a vast amount of land in London’s Docklands and on the Greenwich Peninsula near the O2, which should be well on its way to becoming tens of thousands of homes by now — but where many of the projects have been stalled for a long time. What caught my eye was a heavily-redacted document outlining how the organisation, run by some of the mayor’s top aides, has not repaid a £300m public loan, .
The problem was that City Hall doesn’t really want any of us to read the document. This is what they released to the public, in the name of transparency.
Through a stroke of luck, London Centric has obtained the missing paragraphs, which contain allegations of weak financial administration at Sadiq Khan’s flagship publicly-owned property development organisation. The missing paragraphs also warn that an organisation that is supposed to be playing a key role developing tens of thousands of homes for Londoners could require a bailout from public funds. Paying subscribers can scroll to the end to read the redacted paragraphs and learn how we managed to get hold of them.
(London Centric stories are often followed up by national news outlets a few days later. In this case, in the spirit of festive goodwill, I’ve cut out the middleman and shared the unredacted document directly with the Financial Times, who have kindly run the story on their homepage.)
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The beat goes off at Drumsheds?
London Centric exclusive: Superclub Drumsheds, a 15,000-capacity venue in a former north London IKEA, is at risk of losing its licence after concerns were raised about the venue by the Metropolitan Police.
The club hit the headlines following hours-long queues to get into last Friday night’s event, which was headlined by Pendulum. Clubbers trying to enjoy a night out reported heavy-handed security, large crowds at pinch points, and a general sense that not everything was going to plan.
Some attendees said it felt dangerous, while others said they waited two hours to get into the venue due to ultra-strict security and drugs checks.
London Centric can now reveal the reason behind the sudden change last Friday night: The previous day Drumsheds had been subject to an emergency licensing review at the request of the police, which could have resulted in the venue losing its right to operate altogether.
Councillor Susan Erbil, Enfield’s cabinet member for planning and regulatory services, confirmed to London Centric: “Enfield council’s primary concern is always for the safety and wellbeing of its residents and visitors to the borough. The council held an extraordinary licensing hearing at the request of the Metropolitan Police on 12 December. The licensing committee heard the evidence presented to them by the police and on behalf of the venue’s management / operators and agreed that Broadwick Live, which manages Drumsheds, should retain its licence but with additional conditions.”
She said that the committee is satisfied that Broadwick Live has accepted these conditions but it has placed additional requirements on Drumsheds’ operator to ensure public safety: “Council officers and the police will continue to monitor the premises to ensure these conditions are in place.”
Broadwick Live had already issued a statement apologising for "frustration and discomfort" but blaming the introduction of "enhanced security procedures", without telling its customers why those policies were implemented.
The club’s future is likely to be debated at the next meeting of Enfield’s licensing committee on 7 January.
UPDATE: Following the publication of this newsletter, a spokesperson for the Met police confirmed to London Centric their intervention followed two drug-related deaths linked to the venue and a non-fatal stabbing.
A 27-year-old man died in hospital after attending an event at the venue on 12 October, while a 29-year-old woman died in hospital after attending an event at the venue on 7 December. Both deaths are believed to be drug-related.
On 16 November police were also called to Drumsheds after a man required hospital treatment after being attacked with a weapon in the venue. No arrests have been made.
A police spokesperson said: “Public safety is our priority and following a request from the Metropolitan Police, Enfield Council held an extraordinary licensing hearing for Drumsheds, operated by Broadwick Live.
“This follows three serious incidents at the venue in recent weeks, with our officers investigating two unexpected deaths and a non-fatal stabbing. The council decided the venue could retain its licence, subject to additional conditions. We have had contingencies in place for the most recent event, including an enhanced police presence.”
Where London’s women are.
Tuesday’s edition about transport in London got a lot of attention, partly due to the inclusion of a chart that showed a big fall in the number of young men living the capital. There was a healthy debate about whether TfL is relying too heavily on data from the 2021 census, which could be flawed due to it taking place during pandemic. But there is a consensus that, for whatever reason, London has more women than men.
Data guru and friend of London Centric Harry Carr ran the numbers and concluded there are around 120,000 more 25-44 year old women than men in London, adding: “Fellas if you want to get hitched get your gladrags on and get down there.”
He also provided a helpful breakdown by London borough, concluding the disproportionately female areas of the capital are Enfield, Kensington & Chelsea, and Lewisham — while there are small surpluses of men in Tower Hamlets and Newham.
Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy, I’ve come home to a £375,000 flat in Brockley.
A newly-renovated one bedroom flat in the south London house where a teenage Kate Bush wrote Wuthering Heights is on the market. This key historical detail has somehow escaped the estate agents selling the property, possibly because the building somehow doesn’t have a blue plaque on the front. There’s a fierce online debate as to exactly which flat Bush occupied while living in the property — but the potential purchaser can be certain that they’ll be walking in the same front door.
London Centric investigates: Why has Sadiq Khan’s flagship housing fund failed to repay a £300m loan?
The next time you’re out in London’s former docklands — whether visiting the O2, taking the DLR to Woolwich, or pretending to be a 1980s businessman while getting a flight from City Airport — just take the time to look at what’s around. You’ll be in the middle one of the largest potential development sites in the country with incredible transport links, all waiting to be turned into tens of thousands of homes for Londoners. North of the river in the Royal Docks you’ll be surrounded empty wharves, largely unused for more than four decades, dominated by Millenium Mills, an old flow mill and magnet for urban explorers. South of the river, around the O2, is the cleared site of a giant former gasworks, much of it just used as car parking.
What’s more, this land is publicly-owned and under the control of mayor of London Sadiq Khan. He can’t miss it: Much of the land is within sight of Khan’s office window in City Hall which, despite what most Londoners still think, is now on a windswept goose-bedevilled site near the ExCel exhibition centre rather than in its iconic former building by Tower Bridge.
The problem with the potential development land that is that much of it still remains that: undeveloped. While some construction is taking place, progress towards the mayor’s target of 68,000 new homes on the land has been slow. Some projects, such as in the area around Millennium Mills, have been delayed and delayed for years as deal after deal collapsed. Every year that new housing isn’t built means another year that Londoners don’t have enough homes to live in.
Now, London Centric can reveal deep concerns about the financial situation of GLA Land and Property Ltd, the mayor’s arms-length property company. It owns large swathes of docklands on behalf of the mayor but an internal report, not meant for public consumption, shows that it could need bailing out with public funds.
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