Agenda item

City of London ‘Hackathon’

In relation to a question concerning the outcome of the ‘Hackathon’ that took place on 21/22 May 2017, the challenge for which was to improve the mobility of people, goods and services around the Square Mile, officers advised that the winners had now been engaged to take forward ideas and a full update would be provided to a future meeting.

‘Wind Modelling’ – Easter Cluster

A Member expressed concern with regard to the strong winds at the bottom of the ‘Walkie Talkie’ as well as a number of other buildings in the City and asked if the buildings continued to be checked after construction to check the predicted wind-modelling was working. There was an increasing focus on the absolute need to ensure wind issues resulting from developments did not harm the public realm and its enjoyment by the public.

Officers advised that it was standard practice to ask for independent verification of the wind studies on new schemes to ensure as rigorous and resilient an approach as possible, and these were then monitored for up to 5 years afterwards.

Another Member asked when the wind speed around the ‘Walkie Talkie’ was last measured and whether or not there were gauges in place to ensure the safety of those walking or cycling in the area.

Officers advised that the CoL did not have the expertise in-house however an independent review was undertaken at the time and monitoring of this was part of the S106 agreement.