updated 4.4.12

4.4.12. It will be exactly a year on 7.4.12 since Dalby St was formally "stopped up". This was also the time when Findon started Stage 2 of the Temporary Access Plan which involves building the new road. Stage 2 was meant to take 18 weeks and there have clearly been major problems on the site partly or entirely related to the redirecting etc of utilities. Announcements were made of the immanent completion of the new road over four months ago and it is clearly several weeks off.

3.4.12. The final payment to holders of Findon bonds is now understood to have been made. One effect is that the trustee for the bondholders is no longer shown on the land registry as having a second charge on the property. The lender is still shown as Marfin Popular Bank plc.

3.4.12. The TASE also records the final payment as having been made on the RO Futures bonds.

17.3.12. Posting on TASE site on 15.3.12 confirms final payment on RO Futures bonds will be made on 3.4.12.

4.3.12. Correspondence in the local press continues and can be seen by clicking on the "Press Articles and Letters" on the side bar on the left.

Work is continuing as it has for nearly a year on the building of the new road which replaces the road which the flats would be built on. The building of this new road is "Stage 2" in the Temporary Access Agreement and is shown there as taking 18 weeks.

4.3.12. Findon announced that they will make an early repayment of all the outstanding balance of the bond issue on 20^th March. Their obligation to report on the TASE site will then end.

1.2.12. Two important letters were published in the Camden New Journal today. The first is shown in full here:

"In his letter “We cannot afford to see Talacre sports centre crippled” (February 9),  Peter Cuming expressed concern about what he called “behind the scenes “adjustment”” of the legal agreement that includes vital clauses in it to protect the interests of the public who, through the Council, own this wonderful facility.

That agreement contains very important clauses that give the Council the right to ensure that the “Owners of the Land” provide whatever marshalling is needed to ensure the interests of the Sports Centre are met.  They not only need to remain there but need to be enforced – in perpetuity.  Many of them were added after the public enquiry in order to satisfy a demand for clarity.  They can be found on Camden’s planning site for 2005/4187/P or on www.savetalacre.co.uk.

Critical clauses are those of the “Paramount Objective” and the Monitoring of the Service Management Plan.  The former talks of “the absolute requirement to safeguard secure and guarantee public amenity and safe free marshalled properly maintained and commodious access”. The last Monitoring clause reads “ That it is acknowledged that the Council reserves the right to make amendments to this plan if required to safeguard public amenity and the reasonable access requirements of the Leisure Centre and for the avoidance of doubt in the event of the Council making any such amendment the Owner shall comply with the Plan in its amended form”

And who are the “owners of the land” who incur these obligations? We were given the answer at the public enquiry by Camden’s QC. They are “anyone with an interest in the land” which includes as well as the freeholder, “a long leaseholder, the owners of the doctors’ surgery or a housing association running the affordable housing”.  Any competent lawyer advising a buyer or his lender should have no excuse for not drawing their client’s attention to what many would see as very significant obligations. It is essential that they are and remain very clear so there is no doubt that Camden has the final say."

We have recently been told that those missing clauses should not have been omitted. We will be making sure that they are re-instated in full and drawn to everyone's attention so that the public through the Council, now and in the future, benefit from the protection they afford.

4.12.11. A very limited road safety audit has just been carried out on aspects of the detailed design of Dalby St. Even within its limits, alarming and in one case a seemingly insoluble problem was raised in respect of sight lines at the junction. Local people are urging the Council to carry out a full audit as would have been commissioned had the new road not been owned privately.

 A drawing in the new audit report seems to indicate that consideration is being given to removing the physical width restriction on the new road and having a sign forbidding vehicles beyond a certain length from entering. The first 60m of the road is between 4.8 and 5.5m wide and the last survey (which appears to be reasonably accurate for current purposes) showed an average of one vehicle a minute entering the road – usually with young people who have to be escorted in and out of the building. The marshalling required to make this work – whatever restrictions there are - will cause the service charges for the private flats estimated by us to be (in the words of the responsible Cabinet member) “eyewatering”. However that depends upon the extent to which the Council enforces the legal agreement. That agreement binds all who have an interest in the land eg owners of private flats and lasts for all time

 4.12.11. The quarterly accounts of Findon Urban Lofts plc to 30.9.11 were recently posted on the TASE web site. It shows Cornwall Overseas Developments (the subsidiary which owns and is developing the Dalby St site) as being charged to Findon’s bondholders. A recent search at Companies House showed them as having a 2^nd charge with the first charge being held by a lending bank. However, these accounts make no mention of this project yet obtaining bank finance.

10.10.11. Annual Return of Sheldon Construction SRVC (London) Ltd of 7.10.2011 shows shareholding has changed. Previously Assaf Laznik was the sole shareholder with one share. He is no longer a shareholder. The only shareholder is now Raxelo Ltd with one share. There is no Raxelo Ltd registered at Companies House so it will be an overseas company. Sheldon are understood to be the contractors for Dalby Street (Cornwall Developments Ltd) and Arthaus, Richmond Road, Hackney (Findon Urban Lofts (BBB) Ltd. Assaf Laznik is still shown as the (only) director of Sheldon. His address is shown (as previously), 158 Prince of Wales Road, NW5 3PS although that building has been demolished.

9.10.11. See Findon's Other Developments page at bottom re resignation of director of RO Futures

3.10.11. The office of Findon Property Management Ltd is shown on its web site as Unit 17, Spectrum House, 32-34 Gordon House Road, NW5 1LP. Tel: 020 7482 7222. It web address is www.findonpm.com. That site currently shows 11 flats at the Arthaus, Richmond Road, Hackney for rent, Two in what is now called Theatro Towers, Creek Road, Greeenwich and on in SW11 5RL.

9.9.11. Further scrutiny of Findon's report and accounts at 30.6.11, signed and posted on the TASE site on 30.8.11. shows a reference to the shares in Cornwall Overseas Developments Ltd (the Dalby St project vehicle) being charged to the trustee for the bond holders as a first charge. Also, the value of the project is shown as being £8,516,000. No mention can be found of the bank loan from Marfin which was mentioned in an earlier posting as being available subject to fulfilment of certain conditions. A search of the Land Registry shows Marfin as having a first charge on the land.

31.8.11. Since our last detailed posting on 28.7.11, a certain amount of piling was carried out, mostly at some distance from the east wall of the planned building.  

Findon has evidently decided it is in its interests to continue building in spite of a number of unresolved issues.  A Road Safety Audit is due to take place and it is being stressed that it must address safety issues to the same extent as it would if the new road and pedestrian route were publicly owned as no one could justify these routes being less safe as a result of the change of ownership.

Dalby St, the existing route to the Sports Centre has always had 6 residents parking spaces (available also for disabled parkers). Recently, Findon has been putting barriers with notices saying “Private Road,  No Parking” blocking those spaces and using them for their own vehicles.

Findon has now left its offices at 158 Prince of Wales Road, London NW5 3PS although that address is still shown on the Findon Property Management website. 158 Prince of Wales Road is being demolished to make way for a new development.

Findon’s quarterly accounts to 30.6.11 appeared in its Telaviv Stock Exchange site today. It shows them forecasting cash received for Dalby St as £767,000 in 2011 and £20,864,000 in 2012. An absurd proposition. No other information is provided.

To the many people who visit the Findon’s Other Developments page of this website, we have not recently visited those developments recently.

Other pages on this ie www.savetalacre.co.uk website which appear to be the most visited are this one (Latest News), the Planning Agreement (which is easier to follow than the Council’s website), Land (which also affects ongoing financial aspects including “Overage” payable by Findon) and the very readable “Tale of Talacre”. For anyone wanting to delve deeper, there is a wealth of information on or via www.talacrefacts.org.uk. Direct contact to us can be made by emailing Nick@savetalacre.co.uk or ringing 0207 485 9397 for or with any information.

30.8.11. A posting on the TASE RO Futures site suggests that payment of Principal and Interest on its Series A bonds scheduled for 18 September has been postponed to 18 October 2011

28.7.11. A recent letter from the cabinet member responsible of Environment has corrected a statement made in the letter referred to below on 8.7.11. She says that the marshaling requirements per the s106 agreement are for 1 marshal full time though able to be increased by Camden at Camden's request. Our calculations for 1 marshal full time and 1 for half the day show the likely service charge for a 3 bedroom private flat as over £10,000 pa which is more than double the charge anywhere in Camden or outside. As stated earlier, for 1 marshal only, the amount would be over £9k (incl ground rent). That means that flats could only be sold at fire sale prices, unless Camden were to reduce the s106 obligations.

11.7.11. The financial model referred to on 8.7.11 below has been added here as an attachment. It shows the figures supplied by Findon at the public enquiry and demonstrates the effect of applying different key assumptions such as the number of marshals, interest rate etc.

8.7.11. Please see attachments containing recent emails to the cabinet member responsible for Environment. Anyone wishing to discuss the financial model which provides the figures in the email NJH to Sue Vincent of 5.7.11 may contact the owner of this site Nick@savetalacre.co.uk.

8.7.11. We have learnt that the architect Chassay Last who was involved in the scheme from the start is no longer employed. Their last major involvement was to redesign the first and mezzanine floors for the doctor's surgery in 2008 following which there was a certificate of lawfulness (Clopud) issued 2008/3688/P.

The application for that Clopud originally requested a 5th column which would be towards the front of the building. It would conflict with requirement of a clear view along the pedestrian route. The application in respect of that column was rejected and the ground floor plan revision F was clearly established as applying.

At a meeting on 24.6.11 when some councillors and officers attended Findon's office, Findon distributed a document describing the arrangements that apply to the construction period. That document shows, if you look carefully, that the 5th column is shown. We have alerted Camden to the fact that either the document was inaccurate or Findon are intending to ignore the planning approval.

2.7.11. Following the refusal of the Mayor to allow our delegation on the morning of Friday 24.6.11, strong representations were made by the Labour and Lib Dem groups and the Mayor changed his mind. The delegation, which was from the Friends of Talacre Town Green spoke at the Council Meeting on 27.6.11. The owner of this website joined him in answering questions. The webcam of the meeting can be accessed on the Camden site - our slot was between the 33 and 55th minutes into the meeting. Anyone watching it will realise that opposition to this scheme unites all parties. The formal question and response are on the attachment ("Encl to mass email 1.7.11"), along with a letter sent by the Cabinet member with responsibility for Environment and a letter also from her that appeared in the Camden New Journal. The latter is remarkable for the very robust criticism of what she describes as "this shoddy behaviour" of Findon. The letter to the Friends of Talacre Town Green confirms the situation with regard to having two marshals and raises the possibilty of a third being required.

24.6.11. A question was put down on the agenda for the Council Meeting on 27.6.11. Friends of Talacre Town Green and others requested a delegation be heard at the meeting, as is permitted under the constitution. A delegation is allowed to speak for 3 minutes and has to send the gist of what they will say or reason for wanting to come, in advance. Today, 24.6.11 we were informed that we would not be allowed to be a delegation. We have informed our mailing list and all councillors. As this is written, we understand that the council is reconsidering. In any event, objectors to the scheme will be at the Town Hall at 7pm on Monday 27.6.11. The following is the gist and the Question, submitted by Cllr Matt Sanders:

Gist

Safety The new road with its junction 2.7m from the bridge on Prince of Wales Road has never received a Road Safety Audit. The reason is that it is privately owned. This road replaces a road which, when a survey was last carried out, had over 60 vehicles arriving and departing an hour after school closing time. The new road will be so narrow it has to be controlled by marshals and has bollards to restrict larger vehicles at both ends. 

Camden must commission a full independent RSA. Is it afraid to? What possible justification can there be when this is so obviously a dangerous situation?

One justification for not commissioning one, pathetic though it sounds, is that Camden, having sold to a private developer, no longer has the authority to insist on recommendations being carried out. However, the terms of the s106 can rescue it since they say that Camden can unilaterally impose whatever conditions (typically additional marshals) that are needed to achieve the Paramount Objective. By enforcing those conditions, the situation can, at least, be alleviated.

Amenity. It is patently obvious that substituting the existing road for the new one will have a major impact. There was a public inquiry. No one from the Leisure department was present to inform it as to the impact of the new scheme on the Sports Centre. A letter was sent saying that the situation could be “managed”. That is like saying the M25 could be managed with fewer lanes. It could but the impact would still be considerable. You can always suppress demand but is that the idea here? Whatever happens, this scheme will damage the Sports Centre. If built, all Camden can do is to reduce that damage. That, again, requires full use of the Paramount Objective and Monitoring clauses in the legal agreement.

Service Charges. When the developer and Camden presented figures at the public inquiry to show the scheme was financially feasible and marshalling was guaranteed, they showed 3 bed affordable flats paying a service charge and ground rent of over £4,000. When it was established that marshalling should only be paid by private flats, the service charge for a 3 bed private flat was calculated by us to increase from over the £6k shown to over £9k. That is when there is only one marshal and he is at the Sports Centre end of the road. It is clear that the developer is only proceeding because he is convinced that Camden will reduce his marshalling obligation whereas the likelihood is that it would have to increase - so that the £9k becomes £15k. This is the theatre of the absurd.

Question

“QUESTION 23 (Written)

TO THE: CABINET MEMBER FOR ENVIRONMENT

BY: COUNCILLOR MATT SANDERS
Can the Cabinet Member comment on the recently reported use of Dalby Street by heavy construction vehicles which is outside the published terms of the section 106 agreement? What guarantees can she give to reassure local residents about the promised measures to ensure the safety of the thousands of users of the Talacre Sports Centre, specifically:

• Will the Council ensure a comprehensive marshalling system will be fully instituted as agreed at the Public Enquiry?

• Will the Council commission a full and independent Road Safety Assessment to cover the new access routes and the impact on Prince of Wales Road, and to take account of existing and projected traffic?

• Will the Council further ensure that the owners of the land are liable for the implementation of any recommendations that arise from this independent assessment?

23.6.11. Here is a quick update of the last 8 days. The contractor has continued to breach the agreement and to use Dalby Street for construction traffic. Local residents have continued to inform the council who have sent an officer to Dalby Street every day but not full time so this only deters the constractor for the time he is present. The contractor is understood to be Sheldon, who are beneficially owned by the beneficial owners of Findon ie the Laznik family.

On 22.6.11, The Camden Sports Council passed the following emergency resolutions, unanimously at its annual general meeting:

1. This meeting deplores the development that may be built on top of the road in front of the Talacre Sports Centre as it will reduce access to it and have serious safety implications.

2. It calls on Camden to take whatever steps are needed to reduce the harm which will result from this development

3. In particular, it calls on Camden to immediately commission a full independent Road Safety Audit of the new access routes taking account of and if necessary surveying current traffic and forecasting future traffic.

4. it calls on Camden to ensure recommendations of the Road Safety Audit are met by using its powers under the legal agreement to safeguard public amenity (referred to there as the “Paramount Objective”).

 

15.6.11. The last two weeks have been so hectic it has not been possible to update this page daily since Tuesday 1^st June.

The developer (Findon Urban Lofts) continued to defy Camden’s instructions to stop work as he was not permitted for safety reasons to use Dalby Street. We therefore took the initiative and reported the situation to the Health & Safety Executive and sent out a message to activists living in the immediate area to observe and photograph what was going on. Pictures of unattended gates and soil being transferred over the hoardings to trucks on the Dalby St pavement were used as evidence to Councillors, Council Officers and the HSE.

The situation as of Monday 13.6.11 was that a council officer is visiting the area every day. No more construction traffic is meant to be using Dalby St although a picture taken by a local residents association on 14.6.11 shows a 40 ft low loader reversing out of Dalby Street into Prince of Wales Road. Our action has therefore resulted in Camden council attempting and partly succeeding in enforcing the obligations which it required.

 We understand that from Monday 20.6.11, Findon will be able to enter the site where the new road has now been part built from a new gate just constructed on Prince of Wales Road and that he will commence piling.

The obligations of the developer during the construction period are set out in a schedule of the s106 agreement. That agreement was the subject of a public inquiry. At that inquiry, the developer stated that “The Temporary Access Plan has been discussed/agreed with the Council and has been the subject of a legal audit/review and is, therefore, considered to be reasonable and appropriate”.  A request to Camden who were joint proponents with the developer at the inquiry for sight of that document received the response “In accordance with Section 1(1) (a) of the Freedom of Information Act I am obliged to inform you that the information you requested is not held by Camden Council”.     See Freedom of Information requests here - it is number 14  

No Road Safety Audit (RSA) has been carried out on either this construction stage or on the new road for the period after completion. The junction at Prince of Wales Road is highly vulnerable (in recent years two buses have had their tops removed).  We are requesting a full, independent RSAaudit to be carried out. As we understand it, because the new road would be privately owned there is no formal obligation for there to be one. However, Camden has an obligation to the community to ensure safety. It also has the ability under the s106 (legal) agreement with Findon to require Findon to carry out whatever is needed to fulfil the “Paramount Objective” which is defined on the Planning Agreement page of this website here. The “monitoring” clause, also on that page sets out one means by which they can enforce this obligation.These obligations under the s106 agreement fall on the owners of the land and anyone with an interest in the land. At present that is Cornwall Overseas Developments, a special purpose company registed in the British Virgin Islands understood to be wholy owned by Findon Urban Lofts plc. If the development is built, those with an nterest in the land (and therefore being responsible for these obligations) are expected to be the owners of the 35 freehold flats, other freeholders and leaseholders, the RSL and those with an interest in the doctor's surgery.

1.6.11. Findon starting construction work several days ago. This is in contravention of the legal agreement which, inter alia, forbids Dalby Street being used for construction traffic. On 31.5.11 Camden Council were informed that the situation in Dalby Street where a great many children go to and from the Sports Centre was unsafe. A gate to the site was open and unattended. Working close to the gate was a digger and there was a steep drop. Camden are understood to have immediately required the developer to cease work and the digger did in fact stop, although the gate remained open and unattended. On 1.6.11 the contractor started work again and was loading trucks with earth over the hoardings. This was in blatant disregard of Camden's instructions and dangerous. See pictures taken on 31.5.11 and 1.6.11

6.5.11.The campaign that has existed on and off over the last 5 year and which caused most of Talacre Green to become a "Town Green" has been revived. It had been hoped that Findon had realised that it would be disastrous to build this scheme. With expoloratory work now taking place under Dalby St, local interest is gathering momentum as can be seen from letters in the press. Both the main local newspapers the Camden New Journal and the Ham and High have featured letters pointing out that there is a need for a second marshal to be on duty near the dangerous junction with Prince of Wales Road and that Camden has the right and the duty to insist upon it. Since that will cause service charges on 3 bedroom flats to increase from £9,000 pa to over £14,000 pa (our estimations which Findon is welcome to challenge), it would be appropriate for Camden to at least warn Findon even though it is clear that they have the right to make such a requirement under the legal agreement. Indeed the inspector at the public inquiry specificlally referred to that right. Since few would buy a flat with such charges - or be able to obtain a mortgage for a flat- even with half those charges, it is important for the facts to be made clear to everyone includuing the potential lenders (seemingly Marfin Popular Bank/Laiki Bank who seeem to have been persuaded otherwise) so may not be aware of the liabilities hanging over the private flats. Hence a publicity campaign is being launched with all local houses and flats and persons visiting the Sports Centre being leafleted.

20.4.11. On 7.4.11 Dalby Street was formally "stopped up". This followed Findon fulfilling some conditions which include payment of a £1,100,000 cash deposit which Camden would hold for 50 years as security against the failure of the owners (effectively the 36 private flats) to pay for the costs of marshals, maintenance of the new road etc. It was explained at the public inquiry by Camden's QC that this should be sufficient to pay marshals if the owners failed to, until such time as Camden was successful in recovering directly by obtaining possession of the freehold(s). In fact, this amount is only adequate if one marshal is required whereas the monitoring provisions of the legal agreement allow Camden to unilaterally impose more marshalling - something that the Inspector stressed in his report was vital to the workability of the scheme. At the time of the public inquiry, the developer maintained that the 19 affordable flats as well as the private flats would pay for the marshals. Even then the developer's figures, based upon one marshal on duty, showed an owner of a 3 bedroom flat as paying over £6,000 pa service charges. It was later established in a letter to Camden that only the private flats would pay for marshals. That would increase the £6,000 to at least £8,000. If as seems likely there is a need for a second marshal to be at the critical Prince of Wales Road junction end of the special new road, then, at a minimum of £80,000 pa it can be seen that the average increase in service charge for each of the 35 flats is over £2,200 - more for larger flats, less for smaller. We estimate that the combined service charge and ground rent for a 3 bedroom flat if there were two marshals would be more than £14,000 pa. It is certain that flats with service charges of even half that amount would be almost impossible to sell at any price. However, it is a simple enough question to ask any local estate agent.

5.4.11. The 2010 Annual Report and Accounts for the year 2010 were posted on the TASE site on 30.3.11. This document states that finance amounting to £8.4m for Dalby Street has been agreed subject to conditions with Laiki Bank (this is the same as Marfin Bank which has the first charge on the Dalby Street site). The conditions of the finance include a requirement for a valuation of the 35 private flats of at least £14m, an agreement for the sale of the 19 affordable flats for £3.6m, an agreement for the rent of the commercial areas for £160,000pa and a fixed price contract for construction for £8.2m (with Sheldon, a construction company effectively owned by the developer).

Our calculations indicate that in order to reach the £14m minimum, the selling price for flats would have to be in the region of £288,000, £444,000 and £697,000 for 1, 2 and 3 bedroom flats respectively.  No mention is made of the following aspects of the current situation:

(i) Due to the cost of marshals, the service charge for these flats would need to be at least £4,000, £7,000 and £9,000 respectively. This will significantly impact on the ability to sell the flats and, if they are sellable, the price would be heavily impacted

(ii) The conditions imposed upon the owner of the land ie any freeholder which is passed on to the leaseholders of the 35 private flats allows Camden Council to require there to be additional marshalling. The present rerquirement is for one marshal to be on duty at the far end of Dalby Street, by the Sports Centre building. However, with vehicles arriving at an average of one a minute for several hours of each day and with at most one place where a vehicle can wait and be overtaken when delivering or collecting, it is very possible that another marshal will be needed at the other end of Dalby Street. That is where there will be a very sensitive junction next to the bridge on Prince of Wales Road. It is estimated that an additional marshal would increase the service charges by at least 40% if for a full day, 20% for half a day

(iii) There is no reference to the “overage” provisions in the agreement for the sale of Camden’s land. The agreement is understood to be that the land was valued at about £640,000 with the developer paying half. The other half was treated as being in exchange for a 50% share of any profit being paid to Camden.

According to the report, Findon are of the view that the total revenue from the development will amount to £21,631,000  (£2,276,000  expected to be received in 2011, £19,365,000  in 2012). This of course includes for the £3.6m for the affordable flats. The treatment of the £160,000 pa rent of the commercial areas is not known in this context. However, it means that Findon are still of the view that the private flats are worth very much more than the  £288,000, £444,000 and £697,000 referred to above.

The accounts show a loss for 2010 of £1.2m (2009, £1,190m). Cost to date of Prince of Wales project in the inventory is refferred to as £6.2m

Some information from these accounts that relate to Findon's other projects will be found on the page on this website "Findon's Other Developments"

14.3.11. In the last week, the two structures that arrived in February were removed

20.2.11. During the last week, two structures were placed on top of the two shipping containers that have occupied part of the old Travellers Site. These structures reached the site via Dalby Street which is contrary to the signed legal agreement where it says that Dalby Street must not be used for construction activity - a stipulation which is clearly needed to reduce the danger to visitors using Dalby Street to reach the Sports Centre prior to the completion of the new access road. No planning permission exists for the site to be used for the storage of containers etc. This picture shows one of these structures. The name Henry indicates it has come from the Arthaus project in Hackney where Findon's contractor Lancsville and its associate Henry went bankrprupt and Findon's associated company Sheldon took over the work and some plant and equipment. The white lorry shown in Dalby Street is delivering to the Sports Centre at 4 pm on a weekday. If the developent is built, such deliveries will not be possible as is illustrated by the Service and Management Plan which is part of the s106 agreement signed in 2008 which says ""Deliveries shall be scheduled at 30-minute intervals between 08:00 and 14:00 hours on weekdays, thus allowing for a total of 12 deliveries during this time period." Timing has to be arranged with the traffic marshals in advance. The marshals are paid for by the developer and then the private owners of the flats.

10.2.11. Land Registry recorded on 1.11.10 a Legal Mortgage of the Dalby Street site (NGL637463) in favour of Marfin Popular Bank Plc and a Deed of Priority. Marfin  was the lender on one of Findon's other development - the Atrium in New Cross Road, Lewisham. Findon's latest accounts (to 30.9.10) indicated that there remained an amount due to them for that development of £389,000. The Deed of Priority gives Marfin priority over Ziv Haft Trusts, the trustees for the bond holders. Marfin Popular Bank has its head office in Cyprus. There address is shown in the Land Registry extract as 995 High Street, North Finchley, London N12 8PW. It UK registered office is at 12 Hay Hill, Mayfair, London W1J 8NR.

25.1.11 See Findon's Other Developments re Report and Accounts of RO Futures and some of the many postings on the TASE concerning that company which is in financial difficuties. RO Futures is an associated company of Findon set up at about the same time as Findon, to develop projects in Romania and Belerus

17.11.10 Soil investigations have recently been carried out, with access to the site being from Dalby Street which is contrary to the legal agreement between Camden and Cornwall.
Reference is now being made to the potential future development on the Union Developments web site
2 & 7.9.10. 30th JUNE 2010 REPORT AND ACCOUNTS OF RO FUTURES, AN ASSOCIATED COMPANY, POSTED ON TASE SHOWS THAT COMPANY AS IN SERIOUS FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. SEE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE Findon's Other Developments 

A MEETING OF BONDHOLDERS HAS BEEN CALLED FOR 3.10.10

22.8.10. 30th June 2010 Report and Accounts of Findon Urban Lofts plc which were posted on TASE site on 18.8.10 are attached on page Financing of Findon and TASE. References to it are on that page and on the page Findon's Other Developments

21.8.10. A link to an album showing over 50 of the huge number of letters and articles in the press has been included in on the Press Articles and Letters page

28.6.10. The 2009 accounts for Findon Urban Lofts Plc were filed at Companies House in the UK on 19.6.10. Because of the interest shown in the financing and related pages of this web site, we have now attached these accounts and those for the ealier years since incorporation of Findon on the page Financing of Findon and TASE

May 18 2010. This posting appeared today on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) site. It provides details on all the 7 projects involving Findon and its subsidiaries in accordance with the request of the Israel Securities Authority. Its enclosure is found by clicking on the link towards the bottom of the page on the right hand side. It is also an attachment to our page "Findon's Other Developments". It is seven pages containing three tables which provide information from Findon's 2008 and 2009 accounts with a column for each of the seven developments. The Dalby Street development, under "Prince of Wales", shows commencement of work planned for June 2010 with completion two years later. The estimated sales figures are only slightly lower in the 2009 accounts than were shown in the previous year. At £21,196,000 we reckon they are hugely overvalued especially when taking account of the service charges of up to £10,000 pa due to the requirement for marshals to be paid for by the 36 private flats. Local agents such as Chesterton Humberts and Keatons both nearby in Kentish Town Road might provide an objective opinion.

March 11 2010. Confirmation received that Talacre Gardens has been formally registered as a Town Green - the first in London. This follows a campaign by local residents and other users of Talacre Sports Centre all of whom opposed the Dalby Street development. It will add an important layer of protection to the park and prevent Camden, who are owners of the park, from compromising any part of the registered area which goes to the boundary of the area of the Dalby Street development.

Jan 7 2010.We noticed that on 20 November 2009, Bloomsbury Construction Ltd who appeared to have been managing the Atrium site on New Cross Road (see Findon's Other Developments) page went into Creditors Voluntary Liquidation. The resolutions of shareholders and of creditors was signed by Kyriacos Spyrou, the owner of the company. The Statement of Affairs filed at Companies House show estimated total assets as being expected to realise £20,000 and there being creditors of £318,405 including an amount of £150,000 owing to Mr Spyrou. Mr Spyrou writing as a director of Ridgeway Consulting was the person who submitted the formal notice to Camden dated 11.11.08 saying that construction by Cornwall Overseas Developments Ltd was about to start on Dalby Street.

In early January 2010, the Atrium site was observed to be open but having very little or no activity. None of the residential or commercial units were occupied and may not have been completed. For other including more up to date information, click on Findon's Other Developments page

Dec 17 2009. Lancsville Construction Ltd and its associated companies Henry Construction Ltd and Henry Cranes Ltd were put into Administration. They are understood to be main contractors for two of the other Findon sites. Findon started business in 2006 and have been involved in the development of 7 sites. Over a year ago they had completed and sold nearly all the flats on two of those sites. In March 2009, Cornhill Construction who were main contractors on two other sites went into administration. The seventh site, of course is the Dalby Street, Talacre site. More more details of the other six sites, see Findon's Other Developments.

December 2009. A second shipping container has been parked on the old Travellers site

Nov 20, 2009. A supporter who questioned the use of the site ie 52 Prince of Wales Road and the Travellers site for storing a shipping container and being used for parking cars and a van has been told by Camden that there is no business being carried out and that the parked vehicles were those of Findon's staff who were waiting for local parking permits. The shipping container was stated to be for the building of the development. No cars have been parked in this area for a couple of days and the van has not been seen for some weeks. If the container is part of the development, then it should have entered from Prince of Wales Road and stage two would have started which means that there should be two marshals on duty. However, no entry point for construction exists on Prince of Wales Road and Dalby Street cannot be used for that purpose.

Nov 14, 2009. Email sent out to all on savetalacre's mailing list demonstrating how the development can only be built if Camden fails to enforce the legal agreements which are contradictory. For a copy of this email, contact tut@savetalacre.co.uk.

Oct 15, 2009. Letter in Camden New Journal points out that the drawings and the Pedestrian Access Plan which is part of the signed s106 agreement are inconsistent. Either the Developer must remove the 4 columns (in which case the building will presumably not stand up) or Camden will have to change the s106 which it says it would not do and which anyway received approval from the Inspector at the Public Inquiry. The letter also pointed out that Camden had misinformed Sport England by telling them that the park was open at night and well lit - neither of which are true.

Sept 27, 2009. Findon's accounts for 31.12.08, over 7 weeks overdue for filing at Companies House in the UK, filed today

August 26, 2009. Findon Urban Lofts plc quarterly report to 30.6.09 was posted on the Telaviv stock exchange (TASE) site. No mention is made of Talacre. By far the largest figure in the accounts is just under £40m for development assets such as land, work in progress, development costs etc. Of that sum, between £5m and £7m is known to be for land and development costs for Talacre. The rest is mainly for the sites described on the page "Findon's Other Developments".

At this date, the company is nearly one month overdue in filing its annual accounts to 31.12.08 with the Registrar of Companies in the UK as can be seen from this link for Companies House and entering the company number 05901449

August 1, 2009. During the morning, a lorry delivered a large shipping container to the Travellers Site, entering through the northern gate. After unloading the container, it left. A van has remained on the site with the container. Use of Dalby Street for construction traffic contravenes Clause 7 of Schedule 6 (Traffic Marshals Brief) of the Supplemental s106 agreement signed between Camden and Cornwall Overseas Developments on 30.9.08.

July 22, 2009. Camden's Executive Committee decided that the Town Green should include most of Talacre park including the area up to the edge of the Dalby Street development, the Multi Use Games Area, the Play Ground and Picnic area and all other unfenced areas. Not included is the green sports pitch and the area on the north run by TAG. We were convinced that it should include any part of the Park that could ever be regarded as available for vehicular use for the development. Promises in the past that no such use would be made of the park were made but ominously, plans - both written and architect's drawings failed to convince us that there was no danger of that being changed. The Town Green as now envisaged following this meeting on 22.7.09 should at least put a stop to that concern.

June 25 and 26, 2009. Freedom of Information Act requests sent to Camden for further information concerning the sale of the Travellers Site. The documentation for the sale of the latter appears to be deficient which would mean that it should still belong to Camden. Information due, under the law, in four weeks unless the Council claims it needs an extra four weeks. The Council have required up to the extra four weeks for some or all of these requests so the deadline for all of them is now 19.8.09

May 27, 2009. Camden's Executive Committee resolved in principle to register Talacre as a "Town Green". This decision was made against the advice of council officers. It followed the reports referred to below. Making a substantial part of the area covered by Talacre a Town Green will add a layer of protection, it does not in itself remove the threat of the development on Dalby Street. Our current campaign which stresses the impossibility of building the development within the obligations set out in the signed agreement is all the more likely to be successful now given the scrutiny that will follow this decision. The reports of the outside company conducting the consultation - OPM, and the report of council officers is attached.

May 18, 2009. Camden issues the report of the public consultation on making Talacre a "Town Green" and the Officers recommendations for the Executive Committee meeting on 27.5.09.

The report by the independent consultants contains the following (see page 21):

"Trust in the Council and fears about future development

Those fears about what may happen in future were exacerbated by many participants’ deep lack of trust in the Council to protect this green space, based on past decisions and actions that it had taken around planning and development. For a minority of participants, this lack of trust had a back story rooted in some decades of experience, with references made to earlier council decisions that were felt to have placed profit above social benefit and diminished community assets. More prominent, however, were more recent issues relating to the Gardens specifically and other development proposals which are seen to be related.

‘Recent past is what’s against the Council – they’ve given permission to a restaurant, a parking lot which takes ground out of the Gardens – so how can we trust them?’

The very current issue of the proposed development on Dalby Street (alongside the Gardens) dominated this part of the discussions, and was something the majority of respondents voiced their opposition to. This consultation did not set out to address this issue specifically, but as the discussion groups illustrated, it had a significant bearing on people’s opinions about the need to protect Talacre Gardens from encroaching development. Those participants unaware of the Dalby Street development proposals were concerned by the accounts that other participants gave. The impact on the future of Talacre Gardens and trust in the Council to protect it was two-fold: 

1. the Council’s perceived loss of credibility in terms of granting planning decisions that are not deemed to be in the local interest

‘Not trusting the Council because of this [the Dalby Street development] means not trusting them on the Gardens.’

2. the specific concern that the Dalby Street development would itself threaten the Gardens, with conversations about access roads dissecting the Gardens and a warden-patrolled walkway for leisure centre users.  

‘This seven-storey development, if built, can’t be anything but a disaster for Talacre Gardens.’

The reasoning for this was that the Dalby Street development would be damaging to the Sports Centre, and that in turn would undermine usage of the Gardens. There were also concerns that developers would drive an access route across the Gardens during construction.

‘There’s a symbiotic relationship between the sports centre and the gardens, they feed each other. People who come at the moment will be put off coming to this sports centre because of access to the new development.’

For at least one group participant, opposition to the Dalby Street development was in fact the driver of their interest in Talacre Gardens becoming a Town Green, as it was felt a successful application for Town Green status would have implications for the viability of the Dalby Street building. For most who were concerned about both, the issues were inextricably linked.

A small minority of participants stated that they had known nothing about the Town Green application before receiving the questionnaire, but on reading that the Council had already taken a position against the Town Green application prior to the consultation their trust in the Council had been damaged. It was felt that if a decision had already been taken and their position against Town Green status made public, the consultation would not have any genuine impact.

‘I did trust the council, but I stopped trusting them when I read here that they had already made their minds up [on this issue]!’ "

The following is an extract from the council officer's report (clause 4.6)

" 4.6. Although it was not specifically consulted on it is clear that concerns about the proposed residential development on Dalby Street had a significant affect on residents’ attitudes towards Town Green status. In particular people are concerned about the development encroaching on the Gardens, the precedent this may set and the subsequent long term implications for the Gardens continued existence as a green space. In view of this protecting the Gardens from future development is a high priority for residents and there is a considerable lack of trust in the Council around this matter."

Jan 11 to May 19th 2009. Continuous observation indicates no activities on the fenced off site ie the Traveller's Site and 52 Prince of Wales Road - or indeed Dalby Street. Network Rail (using Osbornes) have been carrying out some work using the Traveller's Site to gain quicker access to the area at the south end of Wilkin Street Mews. On 22nd April, the hoarding blocking the Network Rail arches was removed so it is now possible to see the area more clearly. For an ideal look at the projected site of the development, platform 1 of the Kentish Town West Station is perfect!

In the last few months, a climbing frame has been built on the west side of Dalby Street. It has no connection with the development although it will be very visible from the south end where the private flats are planned .

Feb 4 2009. Appeals committee of Camden turns down request for information on sale of Traveller's Site land. Consideration will be given to appeal to the Information Commissioner. Some of the details known to us relating to the land are set out in the page Land - click on the sidebar

Jan 26 2009 Information about this website sent to selected people and Camden Councillors


Jan 11 2009 Site observed as now being totally fenced off from the Network Rail arches site. Photographs taken from the overground platform above of the condition of the site from end to end, Those seven photographs are shown on the page "Land". The one at the south end, where 52 Prince of Wales Road stood, is shown here By 2nd January 2009, 52 Prince of Wales Road had been demolished. That is meant to be the 1st of the four stages of the development. The actual cost will be less than ½ of 1% of the eventual cost of building the whole development. Perhaps because the Developer believed this could avoid losing the planning permission if the development was not started before 10th January 2009, he was keen to make this start.



In order to “implement” the development, the developer has to fullfil a number of conditions.

One of these is in planning application 2004/2690/C followed by 2008/5728/C to have a contract for the carrying out of the development. The developer submitted a copy of a contract to Camden on a standard contract form in which not even the name or description of the site or works was filled in. The contractor was shown as Heydon & Carr, a company formed in 2006 with a share capital of £2. We estimate that the cost of building the development would be well over £10 million. Camden seems to have accepted this document as being adequate. 16 of its 21 pages were placed on Camden’s planning internet site. When we rang to ask for details of the remaining pages, we were told that the 16 pages should never have been disclosed and they were removed within a few minutes. In the interests of transparency, we have attached those pages here. See the page "Planning Applications" and then application 2008/5728/C for Camden's apparent acceptance of this contract. They say "Council officers have inspected the contract and are satisfied that the owners intend to develop the site".

On 22nd December 2008, Camden's Environment Director, Rachel Stopard decided under her delegated authority that the Council would be prepared to "stop-up" Dalby Street if and when the Developer so requests. This request can only be made following payment of a cash deposit of £1,100,000 so is likely to be made immediately before the start of Stage 3. Stage 2 when the new road is built, is scheduled to take 18 weeks.

Dec 19 2008 Site of 52 Prince of Wales Rd observed to be open and unattended (prior to workmen arriving and drilling holes, probably to secure site)

Dec 17 2008 Demolition, ie Stage One, started with apparent blessing of Camden. No marshals on duty except for when construction traffic working. Per Traffic Marshalling Brief there should be 2 marshals from a hour before Sports Centre opening to hour after closing. Also (even for Stage One!) no entry for construction traffic from Dalby Street. See TMB clauses 2 to 7

Dec 8 2008 Start of demolition. Halted by Camden from 10th to 17th

Nov 7 2008 Scaffolding appears outside 52 Prince of Wales Road. No lights or license shown. Clear intention to start demolition in spite of 2004/2690/C terms not fulfilled.