Brady's, Brixton (Railway Hotel): history, chat and plans
- Thread starter citydreams
- Start date
Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
I'm not local, and I've just seen this, and not read through all 24 pages, but something seriously does not compute here. Either the facts as stated are inaccurate in some way, or something seriously dodgy is going on.
Have Lambeth really given the developer back the money he paid for the building, with no strings attached? (in effect given him the building for free) or are the council buying the building back?
What 'charity grant' have Lambeth applied for, from what charity, and on what basis? If the above is the case, I can't see how this sort of thing would meet any charity's objectives, and can't help thinking the charity commissioners might have something to say. But they would need to know what charity is involved.
I also can't help thinking this would be a fairly drastic breach of councillors / officers' (as appropriate) fiduciary duty. If you work for a council, you're hardly allowed to buy a pack of paperclips without getting approval in triplicate from high level. A decision to hand out £800 K would have to be made at pretty damn high level.
May well be stating the bleeding obvious, but this page on the audit commission website has more about querying a council's accounts (sounds like a registered local elector can ask more awkward questions than someone who's not local), and various forms of redress (e.g. ombudsman, external auditors etc) depending on just what has happened.
snowy_again
Slush
I've assumed the 'charity grant' would have been the input from the Princes Trust, or the Princes Regeneration Trust? That would have been revenue support though - on the feasibility of turning back into a community asset; rather than a capital grant to off set the purchase? Who knows... will Lambeth Finance documents cover that in any more detail?
lilou_b
Member
any links to any docs? surely a planning permission and anything similar should be published, and i am not familiar with the lambeth website, but would hope to find it there?
ah wait, found this, if someone can help find the correct one http://planning.lambeth.gov.uk/onli...s.do?activeTab=relatedCases&keyVal=0000243CON
ah wait, found this, if someone can help find the correct one http://planning.lambeth.gov.uk/onli...s.do?activeTab=relatedCases&keyVal=0000243CON
lilou_b
Member
Apologies for coming in late and not reading through, saw at page 22 of the thread that sale and reconversion to 7 flats + shop/restaurant rather than pub sounds unchallengeable now. However the "charity grant" is a new thing, and indeed it'd be great to share as much info as poss about it. not sure how you can actually track the link between the grant application (grant from whom) to the sale/lease of the Brady's?
teuchter
je suis teuchter
Discussion about pubs/supermarkets and planning rules on R4's Today programme this morning, listen from 2:40 onwards. They mention the George IV on Brixton Hill.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q979p
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q979p
snowy_again
Slush
So, according to this morning's Brixton Bugle it seems to be a potential application to the Heritage Lottery Fund's Townscape Heritage Initiative although the Prince's Regeneration Trust report says they've also supported the project:
http://www.princes-regeneration.org/sites/default/files/PRT_Annual_Report_for_website_FINAL.pdf
Rushy
basically a scrotum
The Princes Trust report says nothing more than name the project, which we knew as they funded the BCT bid.
I can't find the Bugle article online but my understanding of the townscape heritage initiative is that the fund encourages good quality conservation work which economically might not otherwise be viable. E.g. the clocktower is going to cost an arm and a leg to restore properly (as opposed to a temporary bodge) and provide no real economic benefit to the new owners, so the trust gives money specifically for that purpose. Those types of grants usually carry a lot of conditions, are pretty closely monitored and paid after work stages are complete.
It would be helpful if Paul Hill, who I think is or was Chairman of the BCT, could expand on his earlier post about there being a grant to pay back the owner's purchase costs.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
I'm so terribly sorry for not acknowledging your hard work and massive contribution to the boards.
Paul Hill
Think Hard!
Thanks Brixton Hatter. The latest just to clear up a few points:Thanks for the info Paul. I didn't know about the grant application - a really important bit of info.
welcome to Urban75 by the way
And do come back here if you need help/support re: Bradys....
Brixton Community Trust's campaign was to resurrect Bradys as a place for people to meet, work, and enjoy themselves as a real and free community of groups and individuals.
Misinformation
On page 17 in the latest (February 8th) edition of "Lambeth Weekender" there appears an article which says that BCT was "acting on an informal agreement from Lambeth Council that the pub would be gifted (sic!) to them ... ."Brixton Community Trust wanted to buy Bradys
Let it be perfectly clear; at no time did BCT expect or ask for the building to be given free; on the contrary, BCT had always said quite clearly that it would pay the market value if only Lambeth Council would first make a promise to the Heritage Lottery Fund that it would sell the building to BCT.This promise Lambeth Council refused to make.
Lambeth Council gave Bradys away to a Property Speculator
Lambeth instead sold the building to a company registered in an offshore tax haven and, to add insult to injury, Lambeth then turned around and applied to the HLF for £700,000 to give to the new owner that same £700,00 he paid for the building in the first place!Lambeth Laid Bare
Thus Lambeth Council, the self-styled "Co-operative Council, the representative of community interests", has revealed itself for what it is: the very dear friend of property speculators.No amount of Lambeth Council's mealy-mouthed claptrap can hide the fact that Lambeth Council gave away Bradys to a property speculator rather than sell it to a real community group.
Paul Hill
Think Hard!
Just heard: The company renting Bradys (Antic) has gone bust!
Paul Hill
Think Hard!
The valuer put a tag of £700,000 on the building. The valuation was made by the same agent selling the building by closed bid. Deadline for bids was June 11th 2011. The valuation was made in July, i.e. one month after the bids were received. It would be interesting to know just how much the other bidders thought the building was worth.
Also off interest is the fact that Lambeth Council paid £700,000 for the building when it compulsorily purchased the building some years ago.
cuppa tee
Well-Known Member
Antic.......?
you have got to be joking
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
This has been on a few threads. One of their subsidiaries has.
cuppa tee
Well-Known Member
I knew the Antic company had gone bust, didnt realise they were renting Brady's.
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
I may be wrong, but not much new has been added to the sum of human knowledge on this subject.
and it comes back to the extraordinary 'cash handed to the developer' allegation
which, if true, would be criminal
and it comes back to the extraordinary 'cash handed to the developer' allegation
which, if true, would be criminal
editor
hiraethified
That's news to me. I knew that - like a lot of local businesses - they desperately wanted the venue, but as far as I knew they didn't get a look in.
Paul Hill
Think Hard!
I've posted a correction to Lambeth Weekender article which says Brixton Community Trust wanted the building free (BCT always said it would by buy if Lambeth gave it the go-ahead) on Brixton Buzz but not sure how independent BB is of the Weekender.
Paul Hill
Think Hard!
Looking objectively at how Lambeth Council works is rather like looking at a Christmas cake. First you see the figures stuck in the icing - that's the councillors; pretty decorations but that's all. The icing on which our councillors are standing is the democracy. That's coloured blue, red or yellow according to which party is in office. But underneath all that, and hidden from view until the cake is cut open, there is found the real cake, the substance, the heart of the matter. All else, the icing, the decorations etc, are there simply to flatter our democratic illusions. Lambeth Council's real purpose is business. The actual fruitcake, with the flour so beloved of the mealy-mouthed employees and the plain nuts on fantastic salaries are simply working in a common or garden profit-making enterprise. The business of Lambeth is business. It acts like it, it sounds like it, it smells like it. Business is what Lambeth Council is about, democracy is merely their mission statement. R.I.P.
Curly German
Happy and Friendly
Might this be another way of saying that Lambeth helped the developer apply for a large grant?
Seems more plausable.
Paul Hill
Think Hard!
Actually Lambeth's latest foray into the Bradys malestrom is the Townscape Heritage Initiative. See attached: page 17, Bradys No 1 on the list and for which Lambeth is asking £719,379
editor
hiraethified
I can tell you with absolute certainty that BrixtonBuzz is 100% independent of the Lambeth Weekender - it's run by me and a fellow Brixtionite
Curly German
Happy and Friendly
That is an application for a £12m grant from the National Lottery to improve the shopfronts around Brixton Station. It's not a handout, it's for specific improvements.
Paul Hill
Think Hard!
Charity is by definition a handout and £719,379 was the cost to the purchaser so, ipso facto, the purchaser is getting the building for nothing. A handout of £719379 will most definitely improve the new owner's bank balance.
The building was sold, by the way, on the understanding that the new owner would not be in need of any other than his own resources for the refurbishment of the building.
snowy_again
Slush
P
p15 is the table with the brady's 700k. Lots of plans for development in that doc. Can't tell if it's all optimistic 'we'll do this if you fund us and we're allowed to do it legally' or not. Lambeth is lacking in hlf funds since the bca, so who knows.
p15 is the table with the brady's 700k. Lots of plans for development in that doc. Can't tell if it's all optimistic 'we'll do this if you fund us and we're allowed to do it legally' or not. Lambeth is lacking in hlf funds since the bca, so who knows.
Paul Hill
Think Hard!
Leaseholder of Bradys Antic Ltd, went bust a couple of weeks ago. Antic was owned by Maxwell John Alderman.
Antic's assets have been acquired by Gregarious Ltd formed on 15th February last. Gregarious Ltd is owned by the same Maxwell John Alderman
