Greenwich's Art Deco town hall 'to become flats'
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), real estate investment and development group Riverlow submitted plans to redevelop the Grade II listed building in Greenwich High Road in 2022.The premises have been unoccupied since 2019.Of the planned 73 build-to-rent residential units, 11 of them would be affordable. They are split between one-bed and two-bed apartments, with the sizes ranging from those suitable for a single occupant up to those that would fit a family of four.A council spokesperson said the new homes were "designed to meet local needs, and flexible commercial spaces which can be used for workspace, community facilities or retail."With applications of this nature, it's our mission to enhance the surrounding area for both current and future residents, creating a safe, attractive and vibrant neighbourhood."It added, formal planning permission would only be issued once a legal agreement, which secured these community benefits, was finalised.Meridian House lies adjacent to Borough Hall, an assembly hall that served as a concert venue. Its performers include rock bands The Who and Squeeze who gave their first performance there in 1975, an event that has since been commemorated with a blue plaque on the side of the building.
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BBC News
30 minutes ago
- BBC News
Final £1 coins bearing face of late Queen Elizabeth II enter circulation
The last batch of £1 coins bearing the face of the late Queen Elizabeth II is entering circulation, with more than 23 million of them destined for tills and people's pockets. The Royal Mint said the release of the final Elizabeth II coins, dated 2021 and 2022, marks "a pivotal moment in British coinage history".Alongside them, a further 7.5m new King Charles III coins are also entering face has been seen on UK coins since 2023, but only on £1 and 50p denominations so far. Rebecca Morgan, director of commemorative coin at the Royal Mint, said: "As we release more of the King Charles III £1 coins into circulation alongside the final coins of Queen Elizabeth II, we're witnessing the physical representation of our monarchy's transition." She said she hoped finding the new coins in your change could "spark a rewarding hobby" for some, with the Royal Mint encouraging people to check to see if they receive any in the coming weeks. While the coins were struck up to four years ago, they are being issued now because of demand for £1 coins, the Royal Mint said. The 2022 coins will become the rarest in circulation, they added, with 7.735 million of those being released. There are about 24.7 billion coins in circulation across the UK, with the King's coins currently only making up 0.004% of those. Some 2.975 million £1 coins featuring the King were released last August by the Royal Mint, based in Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf. They feature an intricate bee design on the tails side, representing his love of nature. They are one of eight new designs that will eventually appear on the nation's coins, from the 1p to the £2. The country's flora and fauna will feature on them all, with animals including the red squirrel, puffin and dormouse they are the same size and shape as previous coins, the new designs feature larger numbers to help children identify figures and learn to count. The change of design followed the death of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022, and the accession to the throne of the new King. All UK coins featuring the late Queen's profile remain legal tender and in active circulation, alongside her son's coins. In general, coins usually last 20 years - so the Queen Elizabeth and King Charles coins will be in circulation together for some time to Royal Mint has made the circulating coinage of each of Britain's monarchs since Alfred the Great.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Make no mistake, what's unfolding is spiteful class warfare on steroids: JEFF PRESTRIDGE
Another day and yet another rumour emerges of an egregious attack on the wealth of Middle England by this tax-grabbing Government. It's enough to reduce grown men and women, the prudent and thrifty to tears. Having just informed us that a more pernicious inheritance tax regime is heading our way, Labour has now indicated that it is looking to impose a new property tax regime on middle-class homeowners. It seems that nothing in our financial armoury – our home, pension and savings – is sacred in the eyes of Labour. It's all there to be grabbed or taxed to the hilt. Although details of the proposed tax are rather sketchy – and Treasury officials are currently remaining schtum – the fact that the story broke in the Labour-supporting Guardian newspaper suggests that this new tax regime has legs. No smoke without fire. The tax, it seems, could apply to those selling homes worth more than £500,000 – and replace the current stamp duty tax which is levied on buyers. Another option is an annual levy on the value of a property – a wealth tax whichever way you look at it. At what rate the tax would be applied is anyone's guess but it would surely be set at such a level that it raised more than the Treasury currently receives in stamp duty (£11.6billion in the last financial year). After all, this is a tax overhaul driven essentially by Labour's desperate need to generate more revenue for the Treasury's coffers, much diminished by the Chancellor's bloated spending and costly U-turns on winter fuel payment and much-needed welfare reform. It's scary – bloody scary. Make no mistake about it, what is unfolding before our very eyes is class warfare on steroids. A spiteful assault on millions of people who through a mix of thrift, sacrifice and damned hard work have built their own financial fortress, only for the Big Bad Wolf that is Labour to come along and attempt to blow it down. While the current stamp duty tax regime is far from perfect, a replacement property tax – whichever form it takes – would bring with it a shedful of issues. For example, if it took the form of a seller's tax, it would surely clog up the housing market even more than it is now. I imagine that many elderly homeowners sitting in sizeable £500,000-plus properties would opt to stay put rather than sell up, pay the tax and downsize. But if it was an annual tax, it could blow a hole in your household budget. Alongside the replacement for stamp duty, Labour is also rumoured to be looking at abolishing council tax and introducing a 'local' property tax which owners, not residents, would pay. This would be based on the value of the home. Good luck there, Rachel Reeves, given that a similar idea (the poll tax) introduced some 35 years ago by a Conservative government led by Margaret Thatcher went down like a lead balloon – and was swiftly abandoned. Of course, there is a strong case for reform of property taxes in this country. But my suspicion is that Rachel From Accounts will use reform as cover to squeeze the middle classes until the pips squeak. As far as she is concerned our homes, pensions and savings are hers to tap for extra tax. Frightening. Beware of the Big Bad She-Wolf.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
UK independent space agency scrapped to cut costs
The UK Space Agency will cease to exist as an independent entity to cut the cost of bureaucracy, the government said on will be absorbed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in April government says this will save money, cut duplication and ensure ministerial one leading space scientist said the move would lead to disruption in the short term and the UK losing ground to its international competitors over the long run. Dr Simeon Barber of the Open University feared that scrapping UKSA would lead to Britain's space sector "losing focus"."Around the world countries have been recognising the importance of space by setting up national space agencies, and for the government to be scrapping ours seems like a backward step," he said. UKSA was created 2010 in response to the growing importance of the sector to the economy. The development of small spacecraft, satellites and space instrumentation is a field that the UK excels at, thanks in part due to the agency. Its role is to develop the country's space strategy, coordinate research and commercial activities and liaise with international partners. During its tenure UKSA saw a UK astronaut, Tim Peake launched into space to work on the International Space Station and the development of Britain's own capability to launch small satellites and other small payloads into space from space sector generates an estimated £18.6bn a year and employs 55,000 people across the agency, its budget and activities will now be absorbed into DSIT. It follows a commitment from Prime Minister Keir Starmer to reduce costs and cut the number of arms length government bodies, known as quangos (quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations), starting with the abolition of NHS England announced in minister Sir Chris Bryant said: "Bringing things in house means we can bring much greater integration and focus to everything we are doing while maintaining the scientific expertise and the immense ambition of the sector."The merger will see the agency become a unit within DSIT, staffed by experts from both organisations and retaining the UKSA supporters of the space agency, such as Dr Barber fear that this will mean a loss of the agency's dynamic, proactive approach which has proved to be so successful for the UK's space science and its space industry. He said there was a danger of moving to more bureaucratic, less incentivised ways of working, which he said were more typical of government departments, and were the reason the agency was created in the first place."It feels like we're going to get stuck in the mud again," he told BBC News.
