黑洞社区

Hansom is given lines

There was an awful lot of hoopla over Anish Kapoor鈥檚 拢19m Orbit tower at the Olympic park, with the media quick to note the 拢16m donation from steel firm ArcelorMittal. But this might not being quite as generous as it appears. In fact, only 拢10m is a gift: the balance is to be recovered from profit from the Games. When I telephoned ArcelorMittal to check for more details I was told to 鈥渏ust print the same line as everyone else鈥�, before they hung up. So that would be a 拢16m donation then. Happy to oblige 鈥�

A shadow of a doubt

Ed Vaizey, the shadow culture minister, was effusive in his praise of design quango Cabe at a hustings event organised by the body late last month. The MP rejected the idea that a Tory government might make the body self-funding (19 March, page 11). This is good news for fans of the agency, and comes despite previous mutterings by Tory policy people about the possibility of a no-grant future. However, the real situation is more complex. Cabe gets cash from the communities department and the culture department, and it鈥檚 fair to say that Vaizey鈥檚 opinion is not necessarily shared across the whole party. So, given that, if they get in, the Tories will almost inevitably restructure both departments, the fate of the body could lie in which ministry wins the post-election power struggle.

The candy machine

黑洞社区 heard a whisper that work was slowing down on a Candy & Candy site, so of course we diligently called a subcontractor on the spot to find out if there was any truth behind the rumour. Within hours of being assured the rumour was false, we got a call from Candy & Candy鈥檚 frantic PR: workers are doing night shifts, it鈥檚 busier than ever and the story is totally untrue. I only hope there鈥檚 as much hard work going on on site as there is policing the news about it 鈥�

Not so simple, Simon

More Tory machinations. There are plenty of rumours going round about whether the zealous and youthful Mr Shapps will actually get to be housing minister if the Conservatives get in to power. According to the rumour mill, two other names are in the frame: Justine Greening, MP for Putney, and Sir Simon Milton, the deputy mayor of London, who would have to be ennobled to take the role. But if you were David Cameron, where would you rather employ Milton鈥檚 talents 鈥� taking competent charge of housing policy, or keeping Boris out of trouble?

Always recycle

Meanwhile, the conflict over the London Development Agency鈥檚 termination of the 拢1.5bn Silvertown Quays project rumbles quietly on. As both sides (that is, the LDA and Bank of Scotland) ruminate over the hows and how muches of starting legal action over the 拢60m spent on the site, the LDA has apparently been left with another poser. An east London mole suggests that despite the failure of the development to get going, the LDA may renew planning permission. Surely this has nothing to do with the fact that there is little chance of a new application securing as many homes, given the subsequent expansion of London City airport?

Return of fire

I had to chuckle when one of my emails bounced back from the communities department this week. An official message that came with it informed me that the firewall blocked such missives as a matter of routine, because they 鈥渉ave been found to waste official resources and their content can sometimes be seen as offensive to recipients鈥�. Oh the irony.

Send any juicy industry gossip to hansom@ubm.com